Howling
by aForgottenWeasley
Summary: When Hermione is bitten by Greyback during the final battle, she runs away to deal with what her life is soon to become. Nearly two years later, a friend persuades her to go back home and let everyone know she is alive and okay. Finding out what Hermione has become, who will accept her and who will not?
1. Running Away

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: The time in this fic happens to fly by in a flash. You now me, I like to get straight to the point and what not. Hopefully it turns out good.**

**Just so you know, I'll be completely ignoring some of the deaths. J.K Rowling owns 99% of these characters, only Lawrence is mine. This fic will only have 9 chapters.**

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The Battle of Hogwarts was raging and the once beautiful castle was falling apart. Green, red, blue, and purple hexes were flying in every direction; hexes coming from the wands of both Light and Dark followers, each hex looking for a target to take down.

Hermione had found herself in the Chamber of Secrets with Ron, both of them looking to destroy the next horcrux so Harry would be one step closer to defeating Voldemort. After the cup was pierced, and a wave of water chased down two thirds of the trio, Ron and Hermione shared a lingering kiss but eventually laughed it off and ran back to join the fight.

Windows shattered and the walls crumbled down which created a barrier between Ron and Hermione. She yelled over the rumble and encouraged her friend to look for Harry while she did the same on her side. After hesitating for a few moments, Hermione gave him an encouraging smile through a small gap in the debris and Ron was on his way to find his other best mate. She set off as well, her goal being the same as Ron's and swiftly put down any Deatheater that kept her from her goal.

Hermione had just turned down an corridor only to find a masked Deatheater sneaking up on an unsuspecting laughing red-head. Without second guessing herself, she quickly raised her wand and stunned the Deatheater, smiling victoriously as his body fell to the floor with a thump! The red-head turned around revealing it to be one Fred Weasley as he whooped when he saw it was Hermione who had saved his bum. As she drew nearer, she saw that Percy had joined the fight also and he was on the verge of taking down his own Deatheater. With a quick nod, Hermione was off again on her search for Harry.

She had just turned down another corridor and was about to mentally curse the Founders of Hogwarts for making such an enormous confusing school when her eyes landed on a limp form behind a fallen pillar. Her eyes traveled up from the body's legs and she quickly realized that the body was wearing a skirt that was part of the Hogwart's uniform. Her eyes continued to travel up the dirtied school vest and white undershirt when she noticed the four claw marks that had ripped open the chest area on the right side. She also noticed that the claw marks had easily shredded through the material and had drew blood.

When Hermione noticed that the victim was a fellow Gryffindor, she quickly fell down to her knees beside the girl and tried to will away the tears that were threatening to spill.

"Oh, Lav." Hermione's voice shook. Her eyes were blurry with tears that she couldn't tell if Lavender was breathing or not so she furiously wiped at her eyes.

"H-hermione?" The voice was so quiet and broken that Hermione wasn't sure if it was Lavender at all. "Please get me out of here." She said.

Hermione smiled through her tears and nodded furiously. "Of course. Hold on, Lavender, just please hold on."

All grudges against the blonde girl from the past were instantly forgotten as Hermione had finally cleared her eyes and took in Lavender's appearance one more. Even though she came from magic, she wasn't sure whether or not it was safe to move Lavender in her state. She waved her wand over Lavender's form, healing up any major wounds that she could before she moved her to a safe spot. She had just fixed the last broken bone that happened to be a rib when she heard Lavender yelp and scream, _"Watch out!"_

Before Hermione could even turn around, two strong arms wrapped around her from behind and secured her arms to her sides. An animal- or was it a man- bit down into her left shoulder. She screamed out in anguish, dropping her wand in the process and screamed again as she felt teeth sinking deeper into her flesh. The attacker had such a strong hold on her that Hermione was unable to move and push him away. She felt the teeth leave her shoulder but it was quickly replaced by a tongue lapping at her flowing blood.

It felt like an eternity before Hermione felt the hold on her loosen and she heard a body thump to the floor behind her.

Opening her eyes, she saw that Lavender had managed to sit up and retrieve her wand. She turned just in time to see a levitating brick fall next to the unconscious body of Fenir Greyback and then turned back around just in time to see Lavender lose consciousness as well.

It only took a second for Hermione's brain to catch up and realize who and what had just bitten her. She felt like crying all over again, this time for herself, but she knew she had to stay strong and help Harry with the rest of the battle.

**OoOoOoOo**

**oOoOoOoO**

There was a fleeting moment when the Light side thought that they had lost the war and their only savior was dead. They were all soon filled with new hope and joy when Harry had fallen from Hagrid's arms and started up the war again, the outcome coming out in the Light sides favor.

Hermione was walking back to what was once the Great Hall and watched numbly as the elder witches and wizards tended to the injured and covered the bodies of the dead. Most of the bodies tending to be those of students who were too young and inexperienced to shield themselves from the experienced Deatheaters. Unconsciously, Hermione touched the wound on her shoulder from where she was bitten and pulled her jean jacket over the wound to cover it. The last thing she wanted was everyone making a big deal over her and being shunned from the magical community like most were who were attacked by werewolves.

She was thinking about how everyone would treat her when she was suddenly pulled into a tight hug from behind, followed by another hug from the front. She couldn't help the smile that tugged at the corner of her lips when she noticed the very ruffled and dirty red hair.

"I hear you saved my brother, thank you!" George muttered next to her ear.

"Yes, yes. What a brilliant witch she was." Fred grinned. "Come on, 'Mione, we must go celebrate with the family."

The twins pulled out of the hug, Fred catching sight of the blood that was starting to soak through Hermione's jean jacket. "Bloody hell, what happened?"

He reached forward to take a look but Hermione recoiled from his touch. "It's nothing." She told him. "Some wall got blasted off near me and a chunk caught me in the shoulder. I healed a good portion of it earlier so don't worry about it. You two probably just upset the wound when you pulled me into the hug." The twins eyed her curiously but she avoided their gaze and looked around at the bodies being carried in. "You go on without me. I, uh, I need to make sure they brought Lavender in here."

"Okayy.." George drawled as he stepped up from behind her shoulder. He started to walk away, pulling a reluctant Fred with him as Hermione fought the tears that were threatening to spill in front of them, giving the twins her best smile before they turned away from her.

Hermione's shoulder started to burn and she could feel an uncomfortable warmth spreading outward from the wound. Her gut clenched and she felt like her world was crashing down all around her. She glanced a look over at the Weasley family, watching as they all laughed and hugged each other, glad to have made it out alive. With a heart wrenching sob, she knew exactly what she had to do.

She couldn't find it in herself to drop the bombshell of what had happened to her on her second family. They were as happy as could be at the moment now that everything was finally over and she didn't want to put a black cloud hanging over their head again. With one last lingering look at their smiling faces, she turned her back on them and walked away from the ones that she loved.

**OoOoOoOo**

**oOoOoOoO**

Hermione had spent the next few days in hiding. She didn't use her wand in fear that her friends had confided in the trusted Aurors at the Ministry about her disappearance and they would be able to track her down through her lingering traces of magic. She didn't know which town she was currently in but she had, however, managed to shower and get ahold of a change of clothes in a shady bar that no-one would have ever looked to find her in. The owner of the establishment was old, his salt-n-pepper colored hair only covering the sides and back of his head. When Hermione had first walked in, he was unusually quiet, having studied her in her bloodied and dirtied state, before offering her a free shower and a decent meal. She didn't think twice about turning it down since she didn't know if there'd be a next time someone would make such an offer.

After her meal, she made small talk with the old man, his cobalt blue eyes crinkling in amusement when Hermione rambled on and on about useless facts. When she finally realized that the man was fairly nice, she asked him for a couple of favors. He complied, changing her eye and hair color both to black and also gave her a few sets of clothing that he magicked up and adjusted for her. When asked where she was off to next, a shrug of her shoulders let the man know that she had no where else to really go so he gave her a few galleons that he had hidden behind his bar. She gratefully accepted it, bidding the generous man goodbye the following day and decided to attend a few of the funerals the following week for her fallen classmates.

Hermione stayed behind the crowds of people at each funeral she attended, making sure to stay out of sight from Harry and the Weasley's whenever they showed. No-one recognized her or paid her much attention, giving her a decent amount of time to mourn.

**OoOoOoOo**

**oOoOoOoO**

Days had finally turned into weeks and the full moon was only a day away. She didn't know what to expect, whether she'd change at all or just get the emotions of a werewolf but she knew something was up when she became angsty and full of energy as the hours ticked by.

Hermione removed herself from the darkened alley's that she had grew accustomed to and secured a location for herself in a set of woods. As the full moon drew nearer, she felt as if something was crawling beneath her skin waiting to be set free and she had the urge to run. Run everywhere and anywhere her legs would carry her. Night had quickly fallen and when Hermione found an opening in the trees, she glared up at the full moon that taunted her and fell to her knees in pain.

The transformation had begun.

**OoOoOoOo**

**oOoOoOoO**

"Ugh." Hermione groaned. Her body ached, her limbs stinging in some areas, and the bright light behind her eyelids was seriously starting to annoy her. She moved to turn on her side on groaned again as the leaves crinkled and twigs snapped beneath her body. Her arm came into contact with the skin of her stomach and she instantly tensed up. "What the-" She mumbled as she cracked open her eyes against the harsh sunlight and peered down at her body.

She was completely naked; blood, dirt, and fresh scratches covering her pale form. Sitting up, she leaned back on the palms of her hands and surveyed the woods around her. She was in a circular clearing, a large boulder sitting a few yards in front of her with a bag sitting on top. She recognized the bag as her own but she couldn't remember how it got there or much of anything from last night. The last thing she remembered was the full moon beaming down at her.

Standing up, she stumbled her way over to the bag and found her shredded clothes along the way. She picked those up and shoved them in her bag when she reached the boulder, pulling out a new set and covering herself up. She really didn't want to dirty the clean set of clothes but since she was avoiding using her wand for the time being, she had no choice.

As she stood there gazing into nothing, her stomach grumbled to let her know that was in need of something to eat. She didn't know where exactly to go, people would most definitely be on the look out for her now, and she didn't want the unwanted attention from people that she would get if she appeared anywhere covered in dirt and blood. She could only think of one place to go but she didn't want to burden the man.

After a good few minutes of thinking, she gave up and caved to what her mind was telling her to do. She wouldn't be able to last long on her own if the transformations every full moon were going to be a repeat of what she felt now. The soreness after her first transformation was brutal as hell and it wasn't likely to change any time soon. She needed a place to stay before and afterward, a place she could get cleaned up without any questions being thrown at her. With that in mind, she made sure that no pieces of clothing was left behind and set on her quest towards a certain shady bar.

**OoOoOoOo**

**oOoOoOoO**

She kept to the woods most of the time, hiding behind the safety of leaves and branches when she thought she heard something or someone. Her senses were heightened, her ears picking up any little noise and instantly setting her on guard. Her eyes scanned all around, taking in the vibrant coloring of everything around her that she would normally not see if she wasn't a werewolf and her smell picked up a distant salty-ness in the air. She ignored it after a while and continued on her way.

The woods had suddenly came to an end and she could see a village in the distance. Stopping, she sat behind a fallen tree trunk and waited for the sun to go down before she made an appearance. People were likely to see her and it would help tremendously if they could barely recognize her or her state of dirty-ness in the dark.

When darkness started to fall, Hermione raked her fingers through her tangled and knotted hair, breaking apart any knots that had formed from her tumble in the woods. Making sure that it was as tamable as she could get it, she stepped out from the woods and tried to remember as much as she could about the path she had taken when she left the bar.

It wasn't long before she found it, the outside of it looking a bit like the Leaky Cauldron but the sign hanging above the place let her know it wasn't. The name of the bar, _The Flaming Phoenix, _set her stomach in knots but she managed to push them down and shuffle herself inside. Inside, it was pretty much the same as she had remembered from before. Darkness reigned over the few customers that Hermione could see with her new vision, lit candles at every other table and a few fire wall sconces giving off the only light in the place.

No-one bothered to look up at her as she made her way to the bar and she took a seat on one of the stools. The bartender turned to greet his new customer when he paused and nodded at her, grinning just a bit before grabbing a clean glass and poured her something dark and strong.

"I, um, I have to speak with you." Hermione whispered. The place was darkly lit that she felt if she spoke any louder, it'd gain the attention of everyone else around them.

The man nodded, letting Hermione know he had heard her. "Later." He whispered back. "Drink."

Hermione obeyed, her nose picking up the stench of whatever alcohol the man had poured her and drank it slowly. She wasn't known for holding down her liquor and she didn't want another refill of whatever it was she was currently drinking. The hours ticked by, Hermione growing tired with each passing minute but before she dosed off at the bar, she heard the clearing of a throat.

Turning around, she noticed that she was alone with the man who was generous to her before. She saw him _tsk _at her in the dark, his eyes scanning over her face and arms as he crossed his own arms across his chest. "What is it, Miss Granger, that you needed to talk about?"

Hermione tensed at the use of her name, her whole body going rigid as she calculated any escape routes seeing as the man was blocking the door. Her eyes scanned over the windows to the place, thinking about jumping through one of them to get away. The man cleared his throat again before Hermione became curious as to how he knew her name now but not before. "How did you know?" She sighed.

The man chuckled, moving away from the door and back behind the bar. "There's a search party for you, did you know that?"

"I had a feeling there would be."

"Yes, well, four red-head blokes, a red-haired bird, and that Harry Potter fella was in here not even two days after you disappeared." Hermione's eyes widened at his confession. "Don't worry though," He quickly assured her. "You seemed like lady who didn't want to be found and looked as if you could take care of yourself so I told them I hadn't seen you."

"Thank you," Hermione mumbled. "For everything." The man nodded once again, picking up glasses and wiping them down with a dirtied rag. "I have,er-, my reasons for not wanting to be found at the moment. I'm not wanted or anything, those were my friends looking for me but I'm not ready to see them yet."

"I get it," The old man gazed up at her. "People need their space every once in a while."

"Yeah." Hermione mumbled. Silence took over, the old man wiping clean glasses as Hermione stared at her clamped hands on the bar-top. She had a huge favor to ask of this man but she was afraid of his answer. Before she could ask though, there was one thing that bothered her. "Excuse me, sir'?" Hermione caught his attention. "May I ask what your name is?"

"Lawrence Lowe, at your service." He gave Hermione a toothy grin.

Hermione returned it. "Well it's nice to officially greet you, Mr. Lo-"

"Lawrence, please." He interrupted her. "Please call me Lawrence."

"As long as you call me Hermione." She told him.

"Will do."

Hermione smiled and passed him the glass that she had held for the entire night. As she slid it to him, he caught it and cleaned it like all the others before. She didn't know why he cleaned them the muggle way but she wasn't about to ask him either. If he enjoyed it, she'd let him be. "Well, Lawrence," Hermione tested. "I have a huge favor to ask and it's perfectly fine if you decline."

She seemed to have piqued his interest as he leaned over the bar. "Go on."

"Well seeing as I'm still on the run," She paused to trace invisible patterns on her pants. "I have no place to stay and I was wondering if you, well if you have a spare room behind your place of business that I could possibly stay in for a while?"

Lawrence regarded Hermione for a couple of seconds before finally shrugging his shoulders. "Sorry but there is nothing behind the bar-"

"Oh."

"But there is a flat upstairs that I live in." He smiled at her when she paused mid-sigh. "It's nothing much but it has three rooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a sitting area. Seeing as I only use one room and I'm hardly ever up there since I run the bar all day and night, I wouldn't mind a roommate."

"Really?" Hermione asked.

"Really." He assured her. "You wouldn't even have to worry about paying rent."

Hermione was up and out of her seat in the blink of an eye, her arms tightly hugging the man she barely knew. "Thank you. You don't know how much this means to me."

"No problem." Lawrence chuckled. "Although I might ask of your assistance every now and then around the bar."

"That's fine. I could use some work to take my mind off things."

Everything was settled between the two, Lawrence finishing up what little work he had down in the bar before he led Hermione upstairs. The place wasn't much, just as Lawrence had told her, but it was livable. The walls were somewhat dirty, dishes littering the table and counter tops of the kitchen but with Hermione living there, she'd be able to help him keep order.

Lawrence led her to a room that was furthest from his, showing her a room that held nothing but a bare bed and a nightstand. When he finally left her alone after showing her where the small bathroom was, Hermione flopped down on her bed and stared up at the cracked ceiling.

Being in hiding was going to suck but if she wanted to get used to her werewolf abilities and get them under control, she'd have to make do with what she had going for her at the moment.

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**Sorry for any mistakes my eyes skipped over. **


	2. The Return

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Like I said in the first AN, time is going to fly by. Sorry if you don't like it but I can't help it. Well I can but, well you know, I don't want to.**

**Enjoy! Or not.**

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**A year and a half later, **Hermione found herself still living in the flat above The Flaming Phoenix with Lawrence.

Of course, since being in the presence of another curious human being, Hermione had to tell Lawrence where she went every full moon and why. He wasn't as oblivious as he sometimes seemed and after a few disappearances on the day of the full moon, he had already pieced together Hermione's story.

He didn't judge her, in fact, he was amazed with her. Lawrence had grew up with a pretty wealthy Wizarding family but when he didn't share the same _pureblood views_ as them, they shunned him. The only ties he had left to his family was that of his eldest sister, Rebecca, but she had passed away a couple of months back and left everything in her possession to her little brother. That was how Lawrence had galleons upon galleons. He didn't like using the money for himself much but when he saw someone in need of help, he wasn't shy to spread kindness when needed.

Hermione was ecstatic that Lawrence never judged her, in fact, she was amused by all the questions he asked her. He was shocked by her tales of combat against Voldemort and his followers at such a young age, angered by the fact that Fenir had taken a bite out of her, and proud that she had the strength to carry on when so many others fell into a depression when cursed with such a curse as she was.

**It was only a month later, **that Lawrence suddenly fell ill. Hermione was in the middle of helping him put down the chairs from their place atop each of the tables. Every night, she had taken it upon herself to sweep and mop when needed and Lawrence didn't mind. At least it kept his bar decent and even earned himself a few more customers.

Lawrence had barely put down his third chair and already he was breathing heavily. Hermione noticed it and started to concentrate on his breathing and heart beat. His breathing was a bit wheezy and his heart beat was irregular. It wasn't until his fifth chair that he doubled over, gripping a chair with one hand for support and another hand gripping his abdominal area.

"Lawrence, are you okay?" Hermione sprinted across the bar to him. "What happened?"

"It-.. It's nothing, Hermione. Don't worry about it." He waved her off. He slowly stood upright, his hands shaking as he steadied himself. "If you don't mind, can you finish setting up. I'm a bit tired."

"Yeah. Sure." Hermione mumbled. She watched him curiously as he made his way back behind the bar and took a seat on a stool. She could hear his breathing from all the way across the floor and sadly shook her head. "Do you want me to fix you something to eat in a bit?"

"No, that's fine, dear." He again waved her off. "I'm not really hungry." He sat in silence as Hermione worked around him and opened up the bar for their afternoon customers. She heard him sigh from her spot by the now clean windows and turned her attention to him. "I'm gonna take a tap, I think, do you mind holding it down for me down here?" He didn't wait for an answer, instead he grabbed a bottle of Firewhiskey and headed upstairs without a backwards glance.

Sighing, Hermione got ready for the day. The customers were used to her appearance already, some even talking to her whenever she was around. They were your normal witches and wizards, and every once in a while they'd get a visiting vampire at night. No-one knew who she was, her unruly black curls and shining black eyes throwing everyone off of her true identity.

**A week later, **Lawrence hadn't gotten any better. He hardly ever ate, hardly ever drank but when he did, it was something alcoholic. He was unusually warm, sweating all time, and the pain in his abdomen was only getting worse.

Hermione had just dragged herself up the stairs to their shared flat after the night of the full moon, and upon entering, she found Lawrence curled up on the floor next to the sofa. Forgetting all about her sore muscles and her own fatigue, she scrambled down on all fours.

"Lawrence! What happened?"

He only groaned in response and clutched at his abdomen. Hermione was practically shaking, not having been confronted with a need to heal or use magic in a very long time. Her wand was in a drawer in her room and having thrown out all her worries out the window, she left Lawrence for a second so she could go retrieve it.

When she came back and raised her wand to figure out what was wrong, his hand reached out and stopped her. "Hospital." He gasped.

Again, Hermione threw out all her worries and leaned down, wrapping her arms around his own shaking form. Closing her eyes, Hermione thought of St. Mungos and apparated both of them out of the flat. She didn't open her eyes until she heard audible gasps all around her and her sense of smell picked up the distinct smell of _clean _all around her.

Looking up, she caught the eyes of a medi-witch nurse in light blue robes gaping down at her. "Help him, please." Hermione pleaded. "I don't know what's wrong with him. I went home and found him like this."

Another medi-witch appeared out of nowhere, gently pulling Hermione off of Lawrence and pushed her to the side. Hermione wiped at her cheeks, surprised that she was crying when she didn't even know she had begun. The nurses were talking fast, wands waving over Lawrence before he was levitated onto a stretcher and pushed into another room.

Hermione was ushered to the waiting area, a clipboard shoved into her hands by a male receptionist. "Just fill out as much you can, Miss."

She numbly nodded and filled out as much information as she could. She didn't know half the stuff the Hospital needed to know and quickly grew frustrated with it. The fact that all her emotions were heightened now as well was seriously not doing her any good at all. She was so angry with the pointless questions that her knuckles were white as she gripped the clipboard. It had almost cracked in half when another nurse walked up to her.

"Um, Miss, your father is asking for you."

Hermione's head suddenly jerked up, not bothering to correct the witch that she wasn't his daughter, and ran in the direction that said witch was pointing. It wasn't hard for her to find him, her nose carrying her to the room where his familiar scent was coming from. The door was already open so she knocked on the wall to alert him to her presence and continued in on her way.

Her heart sank with the attempt of a weak smile being thrown her way. "How are you feeling?" She asked.

"Normal." He shrugged. "They got me on pain reliever potion so I don't feel much."

Hermione took a seat next his bed, taking in how pale he had become and wondering how she hadn't noticed it before. "Do they know what's wrong with you?"

He nodded. "That's what I need to walk with you about."

"Go on." Hermione encouraged him.

He took a deep breath, Hermione's sensitive hearing picking up his slow and faint heart beat. "The Healers figured out that I have cirrhosis of the liver." He was already breathing heavy with just one sentence.

"That's good, isn't it?" Hermione suddenly perked up a bit. At his raised eyebrow, she corrected herself. "Well it's not _good _but it can be easily fixed with potions and spells. You have nothing to worry about." At his saddened smile, Hermione's heart sank yet again.

"I'm afraid not, Hermione. I've chosen not to let this be fixed by any means of magic." Hermione looked torn between wanting to cry and wanting to break something. "I've done this to myself, without magic, and if the Fates find it themselves to give me this disease,well then I'll find it in myself to fight as long as I can without magic." Hermione's hands clenched, her nails digging into the palms of her hands. She was breathing in heavily through her nose, tears falling down her cheeks, and before Lawrence could blink, the chair she was sitting in shattered against the opposite wall. "Hermione!" Lawrence coughed. "Don't! Please stop!" The curtain that hung around his bed was torn off it's rings, the side-table knocked over on it's side beside his bed. "Please, Hermione, calm down."

The pleading in his voice broke through to her, Hermione snapping out of her sudden anger and mentally cursing the wolf within. "I'm sorry." She muttered. Her eyes scanned the damage done to the room and she watched as everything was magicked back together by an annoyed nurse standing in the doorway. She turned her attention back to Lawrence and fell to her knees by his bedside, clenching his hand with her own. "I'm sorry. It's just, you're all I got." She told him. "You've become my family and I don't know what I'm going to do without you."

He smiled feebly at her, tears of his own filling his eyes. "I'm sorry, too, Hermione. You're the daughter I've always dreamed of having." He removed his hand from hers and pushed back one of her unruly curls behind her ear. "But I've made my decision and plan to stick by it. At least you'll still have me around for a little while longer."

Hermione sobbed, her head falling onto the mattress beside his hand. She cried and cried until the tears would no longer fall, and retook her seat back on the chair beside his bed. They sat in silence together but Hermione's ears could still pick up everything around her. She could hear other families sobbing, whether they were tears of anguish or joy, and newborn babies taking their first breath in this world. She tried to ignore the constant beeping of Lawrence's heart monitor but it seemed that the more she ignored it, the louder it got.

"Hermione?" Lawrence mumbled. Her attention was instantly drawn to him. "I'm not all you've got, you know. You've got loads of friends who, I bet, are still wondering what happened to you."

Hermione didn't show any type of response to what he said so Lawrence said no more.

**For a few days after that, **Hermione spent her mornings at St. Mungos with Lawrence and left late in the afternoon to open up The Flaming Phoenix. Customers were sad to hear the news of Lawrence's health and even more sad when they found out he wasn't going to seek help.

Every day, Lawrence would only ask once if she sought out Harry Potter and the red-heads, which caused Hermione to giggle and skip giving him an answer. It wasn't until the weekend when Lawrence didn't ask her about her friends that Hermione really did think about it. She hadn't seen them in nearly two years and now she was suddenly craving their companionship.

**OoOoOoOo**

**oOoOoOoO**

Friday afternoon came around and Hermione found herself staring at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. It had been so long that she had last seen her natural hair and eye color that she wondered if she'd ever be able to get used to the brown again. She stared herself in the eyes and wondered how she didn't scare away any of Lawrence's regular customers with how eerie her black eyes looked. Her eyes traveled down to the dark red bar shirt she constantly wore with a golden phoenix in flames on the front and a pair of black skinny jeans that Lawrence had magicked for her. With her wand shoved in an extra sewn in pocket, Hermione set off for St. Mungos.

Upon entering the room, Lawrence noticed Hermione's mood was the most cheeriest that he'd ever seen. "What are you doing here so late?" He questioned her. "Shouldn't you be opening up the bar?"

Hermione waved him off, presenting him with his own wand. "I need a favor." She had completely ignored him. "I need your glamor to only last for a few more hours before it vanishes."

He gave her a toothy grin, one she hadn't seen since he was admitted to St. Mungos, and picked up his wand. "Finally going to seem them, eh? It's about damn time."

Hermione playfully rolled her eyes. "Yes, well, I'll be back by morning." She flashed him a smile. "You can't get rid of me that easy, Mister."

Lawrence attempted to chuckle but ended up in a coughing fit. "Alright." He tapped his wand twice over Hermione's head and mumbled a quick spell. "All done. You have 'til sundown before _Mya _vanishes and _Hermione_ comes back to life."

"Thank you." She chuckled. Mya was the name that Lawrence called her when in presence of any other witch or wizard. The name Hermione wasn't all that common and it'd be sure to draw attention if mentioned anywhere.

Lawrence caught sight of the bulge of her wand in her pocket. "Is there a reason why you couldn't do it yourself?"

"Yeah." Hermione told him as her eyes traveled to where he was looking. "If they are looking for me like you think they are then any small trace of my magic will light up their radar." She grinned. "I wanna surprise them, not the other way around."

"Oh, I see, and the bar?"

"Closed for the day and night." Hermione told them. "I told all the regulars yesterday I had some business to take care of and they all understood."

"That's good." Lawrence breathed. "That's good."

**OoOoOoOo**

**oOoOoOoO**

Hermione found herself walking the street of Diagon Alley. The black feminine trench coat she had found at her flat, most likely belonging to Lawrence's sister, covered up most of her form and the collar so high that it covered half of her face. Her hair was thrown up into a messy bun and she avoided eye contact with anyone and everyone.

She didn't realize how much she had missed the place or her friends until she came across 93 Diagon Alley which was now famously known as Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. The building was a vibrant orange that practically glowed amongst the other surrounding buildings and the front windows were alive with miniature fireworks exploding and overly hyper pygmy puffs. As her eyes scanned the front of the familiar building, her heart beat sped up at the sight of two posters beside the front entrance.

Two black and white posters, with her picture, were staring right back at her with the words _Missing Witch. Have you seen her?_

Hermione blinked, looking at the first picture that showed her laughing in the Gryffindor Common Room. It looked to have been taken around her Sixth year and the other picture showed her face void of any emotion. There was a small cut on her neck and she looked pale which led her to believe that the picture was taken at Shell Cottage after her escape from Malfoy Manor. The tinkling bells above the Joke Shop entrance gained her attention as a Father and his chuckling son walked out. Holding the door open for her, Hermione nodded her _thanks _and walked inside.

Almost instantaneously, her sense of smell was attacked by that of gunpowder. She wrinkled her nose and walked towards the section where majority of the sweets were held. With the smell of chocolate, cinnamon, cherry, and orange, Hermione was able to breathe easier and look around. There was only a couple of teens left in the building picking out last minute pranks while Fred waited at the cash register. She knew it was Fred seeing as he had both his ears and George was missing one. The smile he wore managed to make her heart beat faster and mind go fuzzy before someone broke her out of her staring.

"Need any help, Miss?"

Hermione didn't have to turn around to know it was George. Just his voice alone gave him away and Hermione tensed. She didn't know if she should turn around or continue to pretend to scan the shelves.

"No, I'm fine. Just looking for.. aha!" Hermione squeaked, her voice being slightly muffled by her coat collar. "Found it." She exclaimed and held up flavored Lollipops that rendered their unsuspecting victims mute until they finished off the candy.

"Great!" George beamed from behind. "Just take that up to the front counter and my brother will help you out."

Hermione nodded her head, hoping he clued in and let her be. Her wish was granted as the teens from before were walking away, George following them and telling jokes as they made their way to the door. She put the lollipops back down, not really interested in them when another voice stopped her.

"Sorry to be a bother, Miss, but shop closes in a minute. Do you need any help?" Hermione gulped, looking to the side and out the front windows were George was bidding the teens farewell. Sure enough, the sun was slinking down behind the buildings and the sky was becoming darker. "Miss?" Fred tried again.

Hermione twirled around, her eyes scanning the face of Fred Weasley. His usual award winning smirk faltered a bit as his own eyes studied her. Neither of them spoke, Hermione ending up chewing on her bottom lip as she saw the sun falling faster and faster in her peripheral vision. Within seconds, the sun was finally gone and Hermione felt the effects of Lawrence's spell slipping away. She stared Fred in the eyes and noticed that his eyes had doubled in size.

"Bloody hell.. _Hermione?"_

* * *

**Sorry for any mistakes. I combed through this chapter as best as I could and more than likely, I missed a few errors.**


	3. The Confession

**AN: Lots of dialogue, jsyk. Also, please read the bottom note for an explanation of the chapter and a surprise coming up. **

**PS- This happens to be my favorite chapter.**

* * *

"Bloody hell.. _Hermione?"_

"'Lo, Fred." Hermione smiled at him. "Miss me?"

She was instantly crushed into the tightest of hugs she'd ever received, her head being tucked beneath Fred's chin as he crushed her body to his. Given her extra strength, she was able to free her arms in order to return his welcoming hug. She tilted her head upward, her nose being placed in the crook of his neck and breathed in deeply. His own scent of chocolate and cinnamon invaded her senses and her mind went fuzzy.

"OI, Freddy!" George piped up from behind them. "Doors are locked. I suggest your girlfriend floos out from upstairs."

Hermione chuckled into Fred's neck, Fred chuckling as well and fighting off a shiver at how close Hermione's mouth was to his skin. "It's Hermione, you git! Call in the troops. They'll want to know as soon as possible."

"Hermione?" George's eyebrows furrowed together. Hermione could sense his presence behind her so she pulled out of Fred's hug only to be pulled into another one when George saw it was truly her. "Bloody hell! It is you. What- When- Where have you been?" He suddenly pulled away from her, his smile vanishing as he mock-glared at her. "We've been looking everywhere for you!"

"I'm sorry?" Hermione offered as she shrugged at him. She caught sight of a fox patronus disappearing behind a wall when she turned back to Fred. "Did you just alert the troops?"

"Yep!" He smirked. "Come on now. Let's get upstairs so they don't damage our products. We don't need explosions happening in the shop, do we?"

Hermione smiled at Fred, looping her arm through his as he led her up the stairs to his and George's flat. George followed behind them, eagerly turning out all the lights in the shop and making sure their security wards were set right.

The walk upstairs was fairly quick and as soon as they entered the flat, the twins lazily flicked their wands in the air and their messy sitting area was instantly clean. Fred flashed Hermione a quick grin, gesturing for her to take a seat anywhere. "Make yourself comfortable. You're going to be here a while."

Hermione nodded and slowly undid the belt that tied around her waist from the trench coat she was wearing. Slowly sliding the coat off her shoulders, she remembered that her arms would be bared to them and she had a few new scars coating her arms from her run in the woods. Shrugging it all the way off, she was grateful that if the twins saw the scars, they didn't let it show although Fred was starting to worry her seeing as his gaze never left her form.

Seconds later, the twins' floo network chimed three times in a row; spitting out Harry, Ron, and a very excited looking Lavender Brown. She was tackled into the sofa by a messy raven-haired Harry and messy red-headed Ron.

"Hermione!"

"You're back. You're home!

"Why'd you leave?"

"Where were you?"

"We've missed you loads!"

Hermione laughed as their arms wrapped tighter around her; a pair of arms wrapped around her shoulders and another pair wrapped around her waist. Given the smell of faint cinnamon, she guessed Ron had beat Harry and had hugged her around the shoulders first. Breathing in deeply, she caught the faint smell of cinnamon again and guessed that scent ran in the Weasley gene pool. A new scent, something that smelled of clean linen sheets led her to believe that scent wafted off of Harry.

She ignored their questions, relishing in the feel and company of friends once again before her eyes traveled over to Lavender Brown who hadn't made a peep. After freeing herself from Ron and Harry, she stood and moved toward Lavender. She could smell Lavender, smiling to herself as Lavender smelt of _lavender _flowers herself and a bit of earth after a quick rain shower. Smiling a small smile, Lavender and Hermione hugged only to have Lavender tense beneath Hermione's arms and whimper into her shoulder, trying to quickly pull away.

"Don't." Hermione whispered, her grip tightening on Lavender to keep her in place. "I know you can smell it in me," She told her. "I can smell it in you too but please, don't say anything. Not before I can explain myself."

The two girls pulled out of the hug, all the men in the room watching curiously as what had just happened. "Y-you're okay." Lavender choked, tears slipping down her cheeks and a bit of fear in her eyes. "I was so worried when I found out you were missing."

"Yeah, Lav, I'm fine." Hermione assured her. Lavender moved to stand behind Ron, her hand moving to his shoulder and Ron's hand moving atop of hers, gripping it. Hermione raised a curious eyebrow at the couple which caused Ron's face, neck, and ears to tinge pink. She'd have to ask about that later.

The floo chimed three times yet again, this time spitting out Ginny, Arthur, and Molly. Ginny was the first to reach her, running past her parents and throwing her arms around the missing witch.

"Merlin, I've missed you." Ginny sighed into her shoulder. "So, so much."

Hermione didn't have a chance to respond seeing as Ginny was ripped from her arms and Molly was replacing her. Harry laughed behind them as his girlfriend scowled and mumbled something about having a _bossy witch for a mother._

Molly didn't bother asking questions, her happy sobs being too much for her to form anything anyway. She took her time gripping tight to Hermione as Arthur watched from behind them. Hermione looked up at him, flashing him a smile to which he returned and hugged her as well when Molly finally released her.

The floo chimed two times this time, Hermione preparing herself for whichever Weasley was coming through. Bill and Fleur walked out gracefully unlike the rest of their family who had come out before. Hermione braced herself for the worst when Bill walked up to her, his nose twitching and eyes narrowing a tad as he got closer and closer to her. She watched him as his eyes moved over and passed her, landing directly on Lavender before he sighed and shook his head to clear out whatever he was thinking. Offering her a bright smile, he gave her a quick hug. "Nice to have you back, Hermione. You gave everyone quite a fright."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Hermione laughed it off. Fleur walked up to her last and gave her a quick hug before joining her husband. After all, Bill and Fleur weren't as close to her as everyone else in the family was.

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief as she stood in the middle of the sitting area alone. Every Weasley and Harry were either sitting or standing around her and waited to see what she would do or say next. "This everyone?" She asked. "I have answers for all of you but I rather not have to repeat myself later."

"Yes." Fred beat everyone to the punch. "Now explain yourself."

Hermione looked around at everyone again; Ron, Harry, and Lavender waiting expectantly for an explanation from their seat on the sofa. Ginny couldn't stop smiling from her position on the arm rest next to Harry and George had offered the only available sofa chair to his father. Whipping out her wand, Hermione tapped it against her leg as she thought for a second before she summoned up five extra chairs for Molly, Fred, George, Bill, and Fleur. "Well okay, now that everyone's comfortable, what's the first question?"

"Where have you been?" Harry asked first, his voice soft.

"I've been staying in Tinworth." She answered as she stared Harry in the eyes. "When I left, I roamed around a bit before traveling back to Tinworth where Lawrence took me in."

"Tinworth?" Bill breathed as his eyes strayed to Hermione's shirt. "Blimey, you've been within our reach this entire time and we didn't know?" Hermione nodded. "But we stopped by there!" He suddenly exclaimed as he pointed out the logo on her shirt that also held the name of the bar. "The man said he hadn't seen you."

"If you would've shown up two days earlier, you would've ran into me." Hermione smiled. "Besides, Lawrence said something about that if I was on the run well then who was he to ruin my plans."

No-one spoke, the information Hermione just revealed sinking in.

"But why?" Ginny muttered. "Why leave after everything was finally over?"

Hermione gulped, her free hand that wasn't twirling her wand sweating profusely. "S-something happened during the war and.. I panicked." She started to pace a circle before them all. "I was scared and I didn't want to burden any of you after the war was just won."

Ron scoffed even though he saw that Hermione was struggling with her answers. "We would have understood whatever you were going through. We could have helped."

"_Ron?" _Molly scolded.

"Yes, you could have but as I said, I didn't want to burden any of you." Hermione turned to him, her eyes hardening just a bit.

"But you ran to Lawrence?" Ron challenged as he rolled his eyes. "Who is this bloke anyway?" Ron was too busy talking that he didn't see Hermione's hand gripping her wand so tightly that her knuckles were starting to turn white. Everyone else was just confused, their gaze flicking back and forth between the two bickering friends. "I mean, he could have been a _Deatheater_ for all you knew and you opened up to him rather than us."

Before anyone knew it, Hermione was standing before Ron with her wand pointing between his eyes. "Don't. Speak. About. Him. Like. That." She gritted out through clenched teeth.

Ron's eyes widened as he looked into her own eyes, seeing something there that was never there before. Pure rage, hatred, and silver specks that suddenly sparked in her normal honey chocolate colored eyes. "'Mione, did your eyes just-"

The floo network chimed cutting off Ron's sentence, no-one bothering to look and see who was coming through. The fact that Hermione was severely pissed off and threatening her friend was enough to hold their attention.

"Fred, George! They got a hit on Hermione's wand! We can't trace her location yet but at least we know she's alive." Remus Lupin stood before the fireplace as he dusted the soot off of his robes. "By the way, where is everyone? I went by the Burrow but it's empty." If Remus had looked up, he'd have seen that everyone was there gaping at Hermione who still had her wand pointed at Ron's head although her attention was now on Remus. Looking up, he finally saw her. "Hermione! You're back!" She didn't smile at him, her anger at Ron for bad mouthing Lawrence still fresh on her mind. He took in her heavy breathing and the way her eyes flashed before his own eyes hardened and body going rigid. Before anyone could blink, Remus was across the room and shoving Hermione away from Ron.

"Hey! What are-"

"It's Hermione, Lupin, calm down."

"You're going to hurt her!"

No-one other than Remus, Ron, and Lavender had a clue as to why Remus was acting the way he was. He ignored the protest coming from Ginny, Harry, and Fred, and pushed Hermione up against the wall, his own eyes flashing yellow, and his hands gripping her by the shirt. "Imposter!" He snarled. "Who are you? Where's Hermione Granger?"

"It's me, you prat!" She growled back, the silver specks in her eyes growing larger to combine together and take over her entire eye color. "Now get off." She shoved him back and to the astonishment of everyone, including Remus, she shoved him back a good five feet.

"Prove it."

Remus still looked agitated but Hermione knew that if she wanted him to calm down, she'd have to prove it. "I was the one who figured out what you were when Snape was being a git and tried to out you in my Third year. It was Harry and I who rode on Buckbeak to save Sirius and it was Ron and I who constantly argued because he thought Crookshanks ate Scabbers."

Against his better judgment, Ron chuckled at the memory before Remus turned to glare at him and shut him up. Remus turned back to Hermione once again, the yellow in his eyes vanishing before giving Hermione a pitying look.

"Don't." She ground out, her own anger slowly dissipating. "Don't pity me. I didn't pity you."

"Sorry." Remus shrugged. "Do you mind putting that away now?" He gestured to her wand. Hermione pocketed it without a second thought and walked into Remus' arms when he held them open.

"Your eyes turn silver, did you know?" He whispered into her ear.

Hermione gave a forced chuckle, her laughter muffled by his chest. "No but thanks for telling me."

When they pulled out of the hug, everyone was looking confusedly at them with the exception of Lavender and Bill. Seeing as the two of them had only the traits of a wolf, they were able to hear what Remus had whispered to her. Lavender was smiling sadly at her where as Bill had gone deathly pale. He now knew why Lavender's scent was off to him. There was a wolf in the room that was overpowering Lavender's faint scent and confusing him.

Sighing, Hermione pulled away the collar of her shirt and flashed everyone her scars from Fenir's bite mark. "This is why I left. I was bitten by Greyback."

**OoOoOoOo**

**oOoOoOoO**

After Hermione filled them all in about her attack, Lavender picking up the slack whenever it became too much for Hermione to continue, they all lazily sat around the sitting area. Many apologies were said and understanding was given; all being quickly forgiven within the hour.

Now that they all knew why it was that Hermione left, the questions came back to who Lawrence was and how it was that no-one ever saw her.

"He's an old man," Hermione smiled as she talked about Lawrence. "His family kicked him to the curb long ago when he didn't share the same views as them but he's done okay for himself with his bar and flat. He reminded me a bit of Sirius, I suppose." Hermione looked at Harry who smiled when she said this. "He asked no questions when I showed up directly after the war and offered me a chance to shower, gave me some food, and a change of clothes. Before I left though, I asked him to change the color of my hair and eyes so I wouldn't be as easily recognized anywhere and he did. I attended funerals after that, hiding behind the crowds, and set out for the woods to get ready to see whether I'd change or not."

"And you did." It wasn't a question since everyone knew that she did indeed change.

"I did." Hermione turned to Remus who had spoken last. "The change was brutal, from the memories that flash backed to me, the worst pain I ever experienced and the following morning wasn't any better." Remus looked at her with sad eyes but she gave him a smile to let him know she was okay. "The morning after, I went back to Lawrence's bar and again, he didn't mention anything about my appearance. I asked if he had a place I could stay and he offered one of the three rooms in his flat. Been there ever since."

"That was bloody well nice of him." Ron grumbled as he sank lower into his seat on the sofa. "Now I feel _kinda _bad for calling him a deatheater."

Everyone lowly chuckled, Hermione smiling sadly at him. "Yes, he really is nice and I would like you all to meet him one day."

Silence reigned over them, Ginny breaking the silence by yawning. Her one yawn caused a chain reaction within the group and soon everyone was yawning and rubbing their eyes.

"Well, it's been a long day and I'm sure we all want to ask Hermione many more things but we all need our rest." Molly stood up, quickly followed by Arthur. "Hermione, dear, will I be making up a room for you to stay at the Burrow?"

"Er- no." Hermione mumbled. "I'll actually be going back to Tinworth tonight."

"What? Why?" Fred jumped up, gaining curious stares from his siblings.

"I have to be at St. Mungos in the morning and then back to open up The Flaming Phoenix mid-afternoon."

"Mungos?" Harry questioned. "Is something wrong?"

"Lawrence." Hermione shrugged, suddenly finding a loose thread interesting on the hem of her shirt. "He has cirrhosis of the liver, a muggle disease that will eventually kill him, and he doesn't want the Healers to help him. He's going to suffer the consequences that he brought upon himself."

"Oh, dear, we're so sorry." Molly walked over to the now crying witch.

"He became like a father to me, you know?" Hermione sniffled into Molly's shoulder. "And he's just going to let himself die. Doesn't want anyone or anything to help him."

They all watched sadly as Hermione cried into Molly's shoulder and Molly patted her back in a soothing manner.

"Wow. Now I _really_ feel like a prat for calling him a deatheater." Ron mumbled in the background.

**OoOoOoOo**

**oOoOoOoO**

One by one, everyone had left the twins' flat until it was only the twins and Hermione left. After all the excitement of Hermione's return had finally died down, the three of them looked at one another and burst out laughing. The reason for their laughter being how Lavender now cowered whenever Hermione was close to her and how powerful and scary Hermione was when she felt threatened.

"So you're really going back, huh? You weren't lying just to get out of staying at the Burrow where Mum would watch over you to make sure you didn't disappear again?"

Hermione turned to smile at Fred after she had grabbed a handful of Floo power from their fireplace mantle. "Afraid so." She answered him.

His hands where shoved deep in his pockets, his stare locked on the floor. From the sofa behind them, George watched on in amusement as his twin acted oddly around the newly returned witch. "Can we visit you sometime?"

"Of course." Hermione squeaked. "Most of my time is occupied by St. Mungos and the bar but I'm sure I can make some time to visit you all as well. No worries, Fred, I'm not disappearing anytime soon."  
"Right.." He drawled.

George snickered behind them before standing up and going over to Hermione. "Well, it was nice seeing you, 'Mione, I'm sure we'll be visiting soon."

"Make sure you do." She quickly hugged George before turning to hug Fred as well. She noticed that his heart rate picked up speed whenever she hugged him and filed that information away for another day. "Well, I better be going. Gotta wake up early." She turned to the fireplace, throwing the floo powder down before stepping in. "Flaming Phoenix", she shouted and in a swirl of green flames, Hermione Granger was whisked away.

* * *

**For those of you who didn't quite understand Lavender's whimpering: Lavender whimpered because she sensed that Hermione wasn't just a witch anymore. She smelt the wolf within her and seeing as Lavender isn't truly a wolf, she sensed that Hermione is more powerful than her.**

**Bill, well Bill smelt it too but he figured it was just Lavender's smell that was off until he saw Hermione's anger in action and heard what Remus whispered to Hermione.**

**I hope that cleared up any confusion.**

**As for a surprise, well I should have a ONESHOT posted up for you lot Sunday afternoon. I think a character named 'Everett' is making an appearance ;)**


	4. Friendship

The following day, Hermione was up earlier than she'd ever been before. For some reason, she was feeling very refreshed and felt the need to clean the entire flat from ceiling to floor.

She had cleaned her own room as best she could without magic when she first moved in but now that she was able to use her wand without fear of being tracked down, well things would look a whole lot cleaner. The dirt stained floor boards were now a polished dark-oak and the filth stained walls were now pristine white. Hermione paced her room back and forth as she thought about how she could fix up her room. As Hermione twirled her wand between her fingertips, her eyes suddenly lit up and she pointed her wand at the walls, the lonely nightstand next to her bed, and the bed itself. The nightstand immediately looked brand new and the walls and bedding ranged from the different shades of sky blue to deep ocean blue.

She conjured up a tall plain white dresser with intricate vine designs crawling up the sides to relieve her closet of some clothes and a pure black, floor to ceiling, bookshelf for her books that she collected over the past two years.

After her room was done, Hermione moved on to the bathroom, sitting area, kitchen, and Lawrence's room. She was shocked to see that the entire flat had dark-oak floor boards with the exception of the bathroom where there was now a glossy tiled floor. The entire furniture throughout the sitting area and kitchen were all polished and looking brand new. The earth-toned coloring of the sitting room furniture looked vibrant instead of the dull and ragged couch all patched up. The kitchen was pretty bare to begin with seeing as Lawrence conjured up most of his food down at the bar but the counters and cabinets were looking as if they were just installed.

Hermione had saved Lawrence's room for last; not wanting to invade his privacy. After much thought, Hermione cracked open his bedroom door and stuck her wand in, flicking it just a bit and cleansing everything. She had no right to change any colors that he might or might not have in his room already.

Just as she was prepared to plop herself down on the newly vamped up couch, a constant pecking over the kitchen window caught her attention. Looking over in the direction of the kitchen, she saw a familiar snowy white own sitting on the ledge. Smiling to herself, Hermione walked over and opened up the window just enough for Hedwig to swoop in. Landing on the table, Hedwig held out her leg where a rolled up piece of parchment was tied and nipped Hermione lovingly as she took it off. She waited on the table after Hermione tossed her an owl treat from a drawer and Hermione expected she was to wait for an answer. Unrolling the parchment, Hermione was met with Harry's familiar scrawl.

_Hermione,_

_Sorry if I've woken you up. I know you were once an early riser but I'm not sure anymore on what your schedule's like. I thought I'd write to see when it would be a good time to visit you. I know you said you'd visit soon but we really want to see you in your new environment. _

_Ginny has Quidditch training so I'm pretty sure it's only Ron and myself showing up. Hedwig was asked to stay around and wait for a reply so feel free to send back your answer._

_Hope to see you soon,_

_Harry._

Flipping over the piece of parchment, Hermione wrote back a quick reply, telling Harry what time was good and what location they could Floo to. She reattached the note back to Hedwig's leg, fed her another owl treat which earned her a playful nip back, and Hedwig was off to deliver the message.

When Hedwig was out of sight, Hermione made her way back to the couch and successfully plopped herself down for a quick rest. She had to visit Lawrence in a bit but seeing that it was only a quarter after eight in the morning, she had some time to relax.

**OoOoOoOo**

**oOoOoOoO**

When Hermione entered St. Mungos, she made sure that her hair and eye color were back to black. Lawrence hadn't been in there long so hardly anyone would be accustomed to her showing up but she couldn't exactly show up as _Hermione Granger _with her natural eye and hair color. People would recognize her and seeing as she only resurfaced last night, she didn't think anyone else, other than her close group of friends, knew she was still alive.

Upon entering Lawrence's room, she was shocked to see him on the verge of getting out of bed in his regular clothing. A male Healer was standing next to him, helping him stand when Hermione stopped right in front of them.

"What's going on?" She demanded.

"Mr. Lowe is being released, Miss." The Healer answered.

When he sought out eye contact with Hermione, he saw that her eyes were narrowed on him and her arms crossed over her chest. "And why is he being released? He's not exactly healthy enough to be leaving."

"Y-yes, well you see," He stuttered when he could practically feel the anger rolling off of the female witch. "There's nothing we can do for him. He doesn't want treatment so it's only logical that we release him back into your care. We just gave him some pain relief potion to last a couple of hours and he said that you'd be able to brew some more up at your home."

"He did, did he?" Hermione's narrowed gaze then turned to Lawrence.

Without missing a beat, Lawrence flashed her a grin. "Yeah, I did."

**OoOoOoOo**

**oOoOoOoO**

Safely apparating back to their flat, Lawrence was ecstatic to see how clean everything looked. Hermione didn't miss his smile when he shuffled his way into his room and back out, unshed tears of joy collecting on his eyelashes. "Thank you."

After that, a mini argument broke out on whether or not he should be resting in bed or down in the bar helping Hermione open up and serve everyone. His side of the argument ended with that he was tired of being in bed and needed to move around while Hermione stated that being around alcohol was just going to make him wanna drink some when he shouldn't be drinking at all. In the end, Lawrence told her he was going to get down to the bar by any means necessary so Hermione let him go on one condition. He was only allowed down in the bar if he sat with one of his regular customers, away from the alcohol behind the bar where he was able to access anything he liked.

He obliged.

Down in the bar, once The Flaming Phoenix was open for the day/night, customers whooped, hollered, and cheered when they saw that Lawrence was back. All the regulars were glad to have their favorite bar-owner back with them, and everyone else was just happy to see their favorite bar-maiden back in good spirits. When Lawrence was gone, _Mya _was constantly stressed and sometimes easily snapped on unsuspecting people. They, of course, forgave her but it didn't stop her from feeling guilty.

The sun had just fallen, announcing night time, and right on cue green flames lit up the bar. All the patrons stopped to stare since half of them didn't even know that the bar was hooked up to the Floo network. Gasps echoed throughout the bar as people realized that _the_ Harry Potter was standing before them along with another war hero, Ron Weasley.

"Uh, hi?" Harry and Ron both awkwardly waved at everyone who was staring at them.

Their eyes scanned over the entire bar, passing over Hermione without a second thought, and small frowns adorned their faces.

"I thought she said she'd be here?" Harry whispered to Ron.

"Yeah, why'd she tell us to floo here if she wasn't going to be here at all? You think she ran for it again?"

Hermione rolled her eyes at her friends whispers, smiling to herself when she caught Lawrence's gaze and gestured for him to gather Harry and Ron.

Harry and Ron were in the middle of a whispered conversation when Lawrence limped up to them. "Mister Harry Potter and Mister Ronald Weasley, such a pleasure to have you in my bar under better circumstances." Lawrence grinned at them. Harry and Ron returned the grins, all three of them suddenly remembering the first time they met when they were searching for Hermione. "Now if you follow me, Hermione is working behind the bar."

Harry and Ron both looked over Lawrence's shoulder to see a curly black-haired girl smirking at them, her eerie black eyes shining with amusement. Once Lawrence had led them to the bar, Ron and Harry had finally realized that it really was their friend and the bar patrons had went back to their usual drinks and small talk with each other.

"What's with the black?" Harry asked as he took a seat on one of the bar stools, Ron following suit.

Hermione shrugged. "Couldn't exactly keep my looks the same if I wanted my location to stay a secret, could I?"

Harry nodded along as if he had forgotten Hermione was hiding. "But why black?"

"Dunno. Lawrence was the one to cast the glamor, not me." Hermione answered flicking her wand and watching on as four shot glasses filled themselves with Firewhiskey, plated themselves on a tray, and levitated into the hands of a disheveled blonde man entering the bar. He waved his thanks over at Hermione and took a seat at a nearby table.

"How'd you do that?" Ron asked amazed at how Hermione had the drinks practically ready before the guy entered the bar. "How'd you know what he wanted or the fact that he was coming in at that exact moment?" Hermione smiled at her dumbfounded friend before tapping the side of her nose and giving him a wink. His jaw fell open just a tad and Harry laughed. Of course, Hermione's sense of smell was incredible now. "Oh.. yeah." Ron grumbled as his cheeks tinted pink. He couldn't believe that he had almost forgotten that Hermione was a werewolf.

After Harry calmed down from his manly giggle fit, he turned to Hermione. "Wait, so they know you're a _werewolf?"_

"Not all of them." Hermione told him. "The regulars, of course, got suspicious when I went missing during nights of the full moon so Lawrence filled them in. Even told them that if they had a problem with werewolves that they could get the bloody hell out of his bloody bar." She repeated Lawrence's words from long ago.

"Damn straight." The old man piped up. "No-one was going to make Hermione feel like she didn't belong."

"Hear, hear!" Ron and Harry chirped at the same time as their fists pounded cheerfully on the bar top.

The next moment, the bar lit up from the green flames erupting in the fireplace. Two _almost _identical redheads stumbled out, both swatting soot off of the other. With matching grins, they made their way up to the bar and greeted Hermione.

"Hermione, love, sorry we're late."

"Yeah, had a bit of a rough time shooing everyone out at the shop."

Hermione smiled at them, ready to reply when Lawrence beat her to the punch. "Hey, all you lot are missing is Little Red! Where is she?"

Without missing a beat, Fred and George draped their arms around Ron's shoulders. "Why, mate, she's right here!" They gestured to Ron.

Hermione, Lawrence, and Harry all laughed while Ron scowled. "Stuff it."

**OoOoOoOo**

**oOoOoOoO**

The night slowly dragged on; Harry, Ron, Fred, George, and Lawrence all taking seats on the bar stools that were closest to Hermione. She served them drinks, refilled drinks to those who asked, and conjured up some food for Lawrence after she gave him a vial of pain relief that she had in her room for emergencies. She made a mental note to start brewing up a new batch later that night.

As her friends drank the night away, she made sure to liquor Ron up the most because she wanted to know what was going on between Lavender and himself. She wasn't jealous, in fact someone else had already caught her attention, but she wanted to hear it from Ron's mouth himself. And Ron wasn't one to open up so easily hence all the alcohol being served.

Once Ron hiccuped and groaned, Hermione took that as her cue to start her questioning.

"So, Ron," Hermione muttered as she placed both palms on the bar, leaning toward her boys with a smirk on her lips. "How's Lavender doing these days?"

The drunk George, Fred, and Harry who were keeping a sober Lawrence very amused, all gaped while their glazed eyes flickered back and forth between Hermione and Ron. Hermione's smirk only widened more when she heard the loud drunk whispers of her friends.

"_She knows?! How'd she find out?"_

"_Reckon' it was her werewolf senses? I bet she could smell Lavender all over him!"_

"_Should we leave now? Reckon' she'll be pissed when she finds out Ron is in a relationship."_

At the last whisper, she could have sworn she saw Fred scowl at his twin's statement.

Ron, being as drunk as he was, didn't think twice before answering. "S-she's good. -_Hiccup!- _Stays at home since people know about her werewolf tendencies and what not." He waved his hand around before holding out his glass for a refill.

Hermione chuckled, refilling his glass for him. "Home, eh? You living together now? I thought you were still at the Burrow?"

"Yeah, we do." He answered before sipping his butterbeer that was laced with Firewhiskey. Harry and George were kicking him in the shins to make him shut up. "She's very territorial now and didn't like being far apart. It's pretty nice having a live-in girlfriend."

The boys all groaned, including Fred, but Fred was the only one who broke into laughter afterward.

"That's nice." Hermione smiled at him. "I figured something was up with you two last night. She practically claimed you right there in front of me." Hermione laughed. "She's just lucky it wasn't a full moon. I wouldn't have been so nice to her if it was any closer."

"Not nice, eh?" Fred piped up. "Why wouldn't you have been nice to her?"

"It's a werewolf ego thing." Hermione turned to Fred. "It's perfectly fine that they're together but, I don't know, I kind of got the feeling she was trying to tell me to back off. Ron's my friend and if she has a problem with her _mate _hanging around me then.." She trailed off, shrugging her shoulders.

"Is there going to be a she-wolf fight?" George suddenly looked interested. "Because I'd love to see that."

Lawrence who was listening to them talk the entire time laughed out loud, patting George on the shoulder. "I think we'd all love to see that."

Harry nodded along, a drunken grin lighting up his face, as if a female werewolf fight was the best thing ever. "Yeah. Brilliant."

Fred, George, and Harry suddenly roared with laughter, Ron joining them even though he really didn't know why. Lawrence smiled fondly at the boys, standing up and making his way to stand behind the bar with Hermione. When he was standing hip to hip with her, he draped an arm over her shoulders and smiled down at her as well. He was glad to see how she reacted with her long-time friends and was glad that he had finally persuaded her to finally reveal herself.

He fingered one of her loose black curls that escaped from her sloppy ponytail, a thoughtful expression upon his face. Clearing his throat and casting a _sonorus_ charm on himself, Lawrence got the attention of the entire place. "Everyone! I have an announcement to make." The boys at the bar instantly quieted down, everyone else falling silent seeing as Lawrence hardly ever spoke out like this. Hermione curiously tilted her head upward at him. "Two years ago, or has it been longer?" He wondered to himself for a second. "Anyway, a witch stumbled into my bar seeking help." Hermione wrapped an arm around Lawrence's waist and smiled feebly at him before looking out into the bar. "She was a soldier from the Battle of Hogwarts, running away to start fresh seeing as she had a curse placed upon her." Eyes instantly shot over to Hermione who leaned her head on her father figure's shoulder. "_Mya _was and still is a great help to this bar and my health, a brilliant witch who I'm glad opened up to me when she needed a place to stay, and as far as I can see, she was an instant hit with all you lovely customers." A few whoops echoed through the bar and Hermione laughed. "_But_ I'm sorry to say that Mya and I have been feeding you all a lie." At this, the bar was instantly silent. "This lovely woman that you see and know, Mya with black curls and black eyes is not truly real. In fact, Mya isn't even her real name." A few patrons were now staring at curiously, tilting their head from side to side as if they'd figure out who she was. "A glamor was placed upon her to keep her true identity hidden but now that she sought out people from her past, I think it's time that she show her true self to you all as well."

Lawrence smiled down at her, kissing her temple before stepping off to the side. Sighing, Hermione closed her eyes while muttering the counter-charm of her glamor and reopened her eyes when she felt the cold trickle leave her. People were still staring at her curiously, mainly because of the low light, but whispers erupted when one patron guessed who she was.

"_Bloody hell, that's Hermione Granger! Hermione Granger has been serving us this entire time! How did we not tell it was Hermione Granger?"_

Chuckling nervously, Hermione waved at them over her giggling boys' heads. "Hello, everyone, it's nice to finally let you all see the real me."

Just with that one sentence, the bar patrons were standing up out of their seats, clapping and such a warm welcome, Fred and George smirked at one another, simultaneously reaching into the jean pockets and pulling out tiny box after tiny box. Hermione was too caught up in blushing and nodding her head in thanks at everyone that she didn't see Fred and George enlarge the boxes and poke each one with their wands.

In the next second, fireworks were exploding left and right above everyone's heads, sparks falling and bursting into miniature fireworks before one's eyes. Hermione flinched, the bangs being a tad too much for her ears but she smiled anyway. She was afraid that the bar would have scorch marks but one look her way and Fred instantly knew what she was thinking.

"No worries, Granger, these are our new and improved Weasley fireworks. They're meant for indoors and won't burn or singe anything."

Feeling like a weight was lifted off of her shoulders, Hermione relaxed and was able to finally join in with all the cheering and hollering.

"They're a rowdy bunch, are they not?" Lawrence leaned down to whisper to Hermione.

"Yeah." She breathed happily. "But I wouldn't have them any other way.

* * *

**Sorry I'm keeping Hermione and Fred from interacting alone. I promise there is 'Fremione' in this story, it's just Hermione is still trying to figure out her feelings for him. Next chapter, she does just that :)**


	5. A Surprise

Hermione groaned as she rolled over in bed, pushing away her pillows and kicking her blanket off in the process. The week of the full moon was always draining; her body aching and overheating, her mind continuously buzzing, and so much energy ran through her veins that she didn't know what to do with it.

The blinds were shut tightly to her room, blocking out all sunlight seeing as her eyes were extra sensitive during this time period for her. Lawrence was used to how she got during the week of the full moon so he usually kept the bar closed until later hours when Hermione was capable of getting up and moving around. Thinking about Lawrence and remembering about his illness, Hermione sat up and looked around her room for a clock that would tell her what time it was. She didn't want to leave him alone for too long.

Her eyes landed on a muggle digital clock that resided on the middle shelf of her bookshelf and she internally groaned. It was only half passed twelve in the afternoon and she still had a couple of hours until Lawrence would be expecting her downstairs. Groaning once again, Hermione cast another cooling charm over her room and fell back onto her mattress to get some extra sleep.

Only sleep never came.

She stared up at the ceiling, her mind racing with thoughts of a certain male. A certain red-headed male that went by the name of Fred Weasley.

She didn't know why but ever since her reappearance in the Wizarding Community, Hermione found her eyes seeking out Fred whenever he was around. She had never thought much of Fred when she was younger, he being twin to George Weasley and prankster extraordinaire, but something about him now made her heart race in a good way whenever he was near.

She noticed it when she first showed herself, Fred practically crushing her in one of the warmest hugs she'd ever received, and his scent made her mind feel all fuzzy.

The second time, there were two times in one day he had set her heart racing and her stomach feel tingly. The first time was when Molly had offered her a place to temporarily stay in the Burrow but she declined, deciding to go back to Tinworth. Fred had jumped up as soon as she said she was leaving and his worry made her feel giddy. The second time that day was right before she actually left, she and the twins being the only three left in their flat. Fred had seemed shy and awkward as he asked about if she was really leaving again. She knew that George had took pity upon his twin and asked the question that he couldn't summon up the courage to at the moment and right before she left, there was that whole ordeal when Fred's own heart beat picked up when Hermione hugged him. She knew it wasn't from fear in being in close proximity with a werewolf since she could usually smell fear so the thought of his heart beat picking up was curious to her.

The third time, although she tried with all her might to blame it on the trick of the lighting, was when they all got smashed down in the bar. She was asking Ron about Lavender and all the boys had tensed, afraid of how she would react when she found out they were a couple. George had mentioned whether she'd be jealous now that Ron wasn't available and it was pretty clear that they thought she had feelings for him. Fred had scowled at that thought but quickly became the rambunctious person she always knew him to be when she cleared it all up for them.

"This is stupid, Hermione, shut your brain off and get some rest. It's Fred Weasley for Merlin's sake!" She muttered to herself. Turning over to her side, Hermione tightly shut her eyes, cleared her mind, and started to count down from one hundred. Counting was something that always seemed to put her to sleep when she was younger.

_100, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95..._

_83, 82, 81, 80, 79, 78..._

_60, 59, 58, 57, 56, 55... "He is rather cute.. his smirk is quite charming.."_

_77, 76, 75, 74, 73, 72... "His hair is a tad bit longer than the last time I've seen him.."_

_69, 68, 67, 66, 65.. "Dammit, Hermione, you've counted these numbers already!"_

Hermione turned so she was on her back again, her eyes fluttering open as she stared up at the ceiling. One hand rested behind her head while her other hand splayed across her shirt covered stomach. Her thoughts were again focused on Fred and wondering why she couldn't stop thinking about him. She knew why but she didn't quite want to admit it yet. She went back through her memories of each recent encounter with Fred and tried to pinpoint when she started to feel differently for him.

Closing her eyes, memories flashed one after the other and she sat up with a start. The moment she had realized she felt differently for Fred was finally revealed and she felt foolish for not thinking of it sooner. Of course it would have been the night of the Battle of Hogwarts when she saw that Deatheater sneaking up on him and she ended up saving his life. She couldn't think of a world where Fred Weasley didn't exist.

**OoOoOoOo**

**oOoOoOoO**

Hours passed with Hermione tossing and turning and the most rest she got was about twenty minutes. Her mind was buzzing and it wouldn't stop anytime soon until the morning after the full moon.

Finally giving up and chancing a look at the clock once again, the time read 4:17PM.

She wasn't due to make an appearance downstairs 'til five but her thoughts suddenly drifted to Lawrence and how he was holding up on his own. Getting one last yawn out of the way, Hermione closed her eyes on concentrated on the noise that should be happening outside her room.

Silence.

Concentrating harder, straining her sensitive hearing, Hermione came up with nothing. Her hand shot over to the nightstand beside her bed, gripped her wand, and flicked it while muttering, "_Finite Incantatum." _The cooling charm she had cast earlier was immediately lifted, her body getting warmer and warmer by the second. She focused on her hearing and was puzzled as to why she was met with silence yet again. There should have been some noise that proved Lawrence was moving about and at least some noise coming from outside her window.

Crawling out of bed and making sure she was presentable, Hermione made her way to her bedroom door and opened it, only to have her period of silence shattered from the noise in the flat downstairs and outside. She blinked twice, wondering why someone would cast a silencing charm on her entire bedroom from the outside but couldn't think of any reason.

"Lawrence?" She called out, wondering why the noise level in the flat was unusually higher than normal. "Do we have company?" It was a stupid question to ask seeing as all she had to do was sniff the air but she still asked anyway.

When she got no response, she ended up sniffing the air. She picked up the smell of lemons, strawberry, and a hint of cinnamon. The cinnamon immediately made her tummy tingle and she knew a Weasley was somewhere near. Forgetting that she was currently in the smallest pair of shorts she owned and an almost see through white wife beater, she slowly made her way out of her room and further into the flat.

"Lawrence?" She tried again.

Instead of Lawrence making an appearance, Ginny skidded to a stop right in front of her. Her hair was pulled back and up into a sloppy ponytail, flour and other substances staining her blue cotton shirt she was currently wearing. "It's about time you're awake! Lawrence said you always slept in during the week of the full moon but I didn't think you slept in this long." Ginny grinned at her.

The scent of lemons was getting stronger and Fleur made an appearance coming through the front door. "Oh, good, you're awake! You need to be dressed and downstairs at the bar by six fifteen." Fleur immediately told her, any trace of her French accent now completely gone.

Hermione completely ignored her, her eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. "Fleur? What are you doing here? What are you two doing here?" She asked as she glanced back and forth between Fleur and Ginny. "And why do I need to be downstairs after six? I need to help Lawrence open up the bar for his customers earlier than that."

She made a beeline for the kitchen, opening the refrigerator and grabbing an ice cold water bottle from within.

"No, you need to shower, change, and go downstairs when we tell you that you're allowed to." Ginny turned so that she kept Hermione in her line of vision.

Hermione's grip tightened on her water bottle, her annoyance quickly climbing as Ginny was bossing her around. Any other day she would have brushed it off and possibly listened but now, she really couldn't argue seeing as she didn't want to snap at her friend.

She finally managed to uncap her bottle and take a sip of water, trying her hardest to cool down her body. "Mhm. Okay." She gritted out through clenched teeth. "I'll do just that."

"Wow. Really?" Ginny chuckled. "I was expecting much more of a fight. Especially now since you're emotions are probably going haywire."

Ginny went on and on, Hermione's annoyance rising higher and higher before she opened her eyes, narrowed her gaze on Ginny, and watched as Ginny instantly shut her mouth. "I said I'll do it." Hermione snapped.

Ginny's eyes had widened in slight fear as the silver specks in Hermione's eye glowed and then dimmed as Hermione stalked past her and Fleur, and back into her room.

**OoOoOoOo**

**oOoOoOoO**

Hermione had felt bad throughout her entire shower even though her annoyance hadn't waned yet, but decided she'd make it up to Ginny and let the girl dress her. After her shower was done, Hermione walked into the sitting area where Fleur and Ginny were talking in hushed whispers and sighed. "I'm sorry for snapping, Gin. Can you help me and pick out an outfit since I don't know what's going on?"

Ginny's head popped up, turning to smile at her friend. "No need for apologies. I've had my fair share of being snapped at by Bill around the full moon." She shrugged it off. "And as for getting you dressed, I'd love to."

As soon as Ginny stood to follow Hermione back to her room, Lawrence walked in through the front door and without missing a beat, looked at Hermione and chuckled. "You should really put some clothes on, Hermione. I'm sure you don't want to give a certain Weasley a heart attack if he sees you dressed like that downstairs."

Hermione's eyes widened while Fleur and Ginny snickered. "I- He- What? He's downstairs?!"

"Let's go, Hermione." Ginny laughed as she grabbed Hermione by the arm and dragged her towards her room. "I'm sure Fred would love to see you like this but I'm not so sure he'd appreciate everyone else seeing you like this also."

"Everyone else? Who is all here? And how did you know?" Ginny's smile widened even further as Hermione didn't deny anything about Fred.

"Just go, Hermione." Fleur waved her away. "Get dressed and be ready for tonight. I'm sure you'll have some fun." She winked at the scantily clad witch before the bedroom door was closed.

**OoOoOoOo**

**oOoOoOoO**

By the time Ginny had finished with Hermione, they were still ten minutes early and Hermione was wishing that she hadn't let Ginny choose her outfit. She figured that the years they had spent apart, maybe Ginny's fashion sense had changed some.

Hermione had no such luck. Well at least not much.

The leather pants that Ginny conjured up for her nearly sent her running for her life but her heart beat tremendously calmed down some when she saw the comfy looking beige cashmere sweater shirt that Ginny conjured up next. The leather pants obviously clung to her like a second skin but the sweater was just loose enough to leave her comfortable while wearing it. The nude pumps that Ginny shoved onto her feet weren't too difficult to walk in and they gave her an extra ounce of confidence even though she didn't need it since her inner wolf was practically purring at Ginny's choice of outfit.

The only thing the two couldn't seem to agree on was her hair. Ginny was aiming for a straight sleek look where as Hermione wanted to leave her curls alone. In the end, they settled for something in between straight and curly, opting to go for wavy. Ginny straightened part of her bangs, leaving them to fall right above her left eye and mussed up her wavy tresses so it looked a hot mess. Her hair fell right below her shoulder and with a nod of approval from Ginny, they had finally managed to exit her bedroom.

Walking through the flat and towards the front door, Hermione kept tugging at the hem of her sleeves and gnawing on her bottom lip.

"Will you quit that!" Ginny playfully scolded.

"I can't help it." Hermione mumbled. "I've never worn anything like this and my mind is battling with itself."

"How so?"

Hermione took a deep breath before she explained. "The outfit is making me slightly uncomfortable yet the wolf within is purring in the back of mind, happy with what you chose."

Hermione was worried that Ginny would think she was crazy for talking about herself with two different minds but Ginny merely smirked at her. "Well your wolf has some great taste." She laughed. "Suck it up. The boys put in some great effort for this party and you will not ruin it for them."

"What party?!" Hermione's eyes widened. "Why wasn't I informed of this party before?"

"Because it was a surprise, that's why."

And with that, the front door was flung open and the chatter of multiple people floated up to her ears. The music playing softly down in the bar made itself known and the scent of many people invaded her nostrils.

Ginny went down first, Hermione following slowly as her pumps clicked against each wooden step. When she was finally on level ground, Hermione realized that the people at the party were not just going to be the Weasley's, Harry, and Lawrence. It was going to be the Weasley's, Harry, Lawrence, and pretty much anyone who was a regular customer at The Flaming Phoenix.

Two _wolf-whistles _caused Hermione to grimace at the high-pitch noise but then the deep, rich laughter afterward made her grin. She knew that laughter anywhere.

Her gaze instantly zeroed in on Fred and George, both decked out in muggle jeans that were fitted yet hung comfortably on their hips and button down dress shirts with their sleeves rolled up to their elbows. George's shirt was a deep ocean blue whereas Fred chose an eggplant purple which happened to just be one of Hermione's favorite colors.

Lawrence was seated in a booth along with Fleur and Ginny, all who were smugly smirking at Hermione and snickering when her gaze lingered on Fred a bit longer than normal. She waved at the twins, passing up bar patrons who smiled up at her and made her way to Lawrence.

"Just what exactly is going on?" She crossed her arms across her chest and tried her best to be stern but the small smile playing on her lips gave her away.

"Why, it's a party!" Lawrence chuckled. "Your friends thought it was a marvelous idea to throw you a 'Welcome Back to the Wizarding World' party and I thought here was the best place for it."

"Yes but I never left the wizarding world." Hermione scowled. "I was just hiding in plain view."

"Come off it, 'Mione." Ginny threw in her two cents. "Just let loose and have some fun. Everyone else should be showing up in a bit anyway."

As if they had had it planned, the floo activated and person after person, Weasley after Weasley after Potter stumbled in. Arthur Weasley was followed by Molly who in turn was followed by a grinning Charlie who had floo'd in at the last minute. Harry came through, arms carrying trays of food followed by Ron who was also carrying food. Lavender and Bill were the last two to pass on through, both of them carrying food as well.

Harry, Ron, Lavender, and Bill were setting out the food where ever Molly told them to while Arthur and Charlie greeted her. Hermione hugged each of the Weasley men, laughing nervously as Charlie mumbled something about it being a pity he was older seeing as Hermione was looking quite fit.

Molly had made a quick stop by her, patting her awkwardly on the shoulder before running around and making sure there was enough food for everyone to eat. Confused, Hermione hadn't noticed when Harry and Ron walked up to her.

"Surprised?" Harry chuckled as he pulled her into a brief hug. "The twins thought a party was due since you resurfaced."

"The twins, eh?" Hermione asked, her eyes traveling over to Fred and George who were putting glass bowls full of candy in the center of each table. "Just what exactly are they up to?"

"Not a thing." Ron assured her. He moved to hug her next, making sure his arms were placed appropriately on her back as Hermione did the same. Ron was about to speak again when a low growl cut him off. Pulling out of the hug and curiously gazing at Hermione, he noticed the growl was coming from behind him where Lavender was now standing.

Hermione's eyes flashed, her lips pulling back to bare her teeth at Lavender. "Don't you dare growl at me in my own bar, at my own party. If you're feeling so damn insecure, you can leave." She snarled.

Lavender's face completely fell, her shoulders shaking as she started to whimper. The whole bar had went deathly silent, the growling of the the female alpha and beta catching their attention. Since the full moon was only a day away, emotions were running high and the growling and snarling just couldn't be helped.

"I think we're about to get that she-wolf fight after all." Hermione heard one of the twins mumble from behind her.

Chuckling, the silver dimmed in her eyes and Hermione turned to face them. "Afraid not." She stuck her tongue out at them. She moved away from Harry and Ron, choosing to make her way to an amused looking Ginny, and missed when Molly was the first person beside Lavender to try and soothe the witch.

"What was that about?" Ginny laughed as she made room for Hermione to sit.

She shrugged. "Full moon. Lavender feels protective of Ron but my wolf is the alpha female so she just put Lavender back in her place."

"Alpha female, eh? Sounds fun." Ginny continued to laugh.

Hermione joined in on the laughter, Harry soon making his way over to the two laughing witches. "That was quite a show." Harry grinned. "I don't think any eyes are going to stray too far from you tonight. They'll all be waiting until the next female showdown."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "There will be no showdown as long as Lavender steers clear of me."

Their conversation was cut short as the entire bar lit up, white balls of light floating near the ceiling that illuminated the entire bar. Groups of multi-colored streamers hung from wall to wall, each ends meeting in the corners. The food was spread out evenly across the bar and drinks were served to those who asked. The hard-candies that were sitting in the middle of each table were left untouched, almost every person in the bar knowing full well just who the Weasley twins were.

A clearing of a throat caught everyone's attention as Fred and George stood up on the bar stools, towering over everyone.

"Welcome Family and Friends of Hermione Granger.." Fred started.

"Tonight is all about having fun and celebrating the return of a dear friend.."

"Although she was hiding in plain view this entire time.." Fred sought her out and winked.

"Enjoy yourselves, make new friends, eat some food, and have a drink."

"And let's celebrate in gaining back our brilliant witch." Fred finished.

People cheered and clapped causing Fred and George to playfully bow before stepping down but no-one made a move towards the food. Glancing around, you could tell everyone was waiting for someone else to eat first to make sure nothing happened to them before getting food for themselves.

"OI!" George hollered. "The food is harmless. Mum made it and she hates pranks so eat 'til you can't eat no more." And that was all it took before people moved around and served themselves on small plates while filling up their glasses with a drink of their choosing.

The entire night went on without a hitch, Lavender making sure to steer clear of Hermione so there were no more werewolf mishaps. Food was eaten, drinks were gulped down, and some people got curious enough to try out the hard-candies and found out exactly what they did. Apparently, whatever the color of the hard-candy, was what one's person head of hair turned.

Everyone had their fair share of drinks, Charlie being one of the first Weasley's to be absolutely hammered and ended up in the corner with a sober chuckling Lawrence. Charlie had droned on and on about what a fine establishment the Wizard was running and eventually got into the tales of his Dragon Keeping and how much he was going to miss it now that he was permanently staying home.

Harry and Ginny were the couple to watch that night, seeing as they were trying to drink each other under the table. It was almost as if it was a dare between the two to see which one could hold the most liquor. Their drinking ended, however, when they both got curious to see what Fred and George's candies tasted like and ended up with different hair colors. Ginny's shocking red head of hair was now sleek black which made Harry guffaw and call her "Mistress Snape". His laughter died down the moment his hair turned almost bleach blonde and Ginny called him "Malfoy Jr. Jr.". The colors weren't as drastic as some of the others who were sporting red, blue, aqua blue, purple, and pink hair but it still made them scowl with their newly acquired nicknames.

Fred, George, and Hermione shared more than a few drinks with each other, everyone snickering behind Fred and Hermione's back. Everyone could see how Fred followed her around like a lost puppy and they couldn't believe Hermione never noticed the "sneaky" glances Fred threw her way.

Laughs echoed throughout the bar and when it was time for the party to wind down, the white balls of light erupted into a rainbow of sparks on everyone and vanished into thin air.

**OoOoOoOo**

**oOoOoOoO**

**The Following Morning**

Seeing as everyone was completely smashed the night before, Lawrence made sure that everyone floo'd home to the right place before he went up to bed. Even Hermione, who was tough to get drunk now-a-days, was smashed and quickly fell into an easy night's sleep.

The fact that she had forgotten to cast a cooling charm over her room woke her up earlier than normal. Her head was pounding harder than usual, her stomach churned at the slightest of movement, and the light seriously stung her eyes. The pecking of an owl's beak on her window made her groan and sit up, her eyes landing on the familiar Hedwig right outside.

Making her way over to the window, she fed Hedwig an owl treat while untying two pieces of rolled up parchment and watched as Hedwig took flight once she was free of her delivery. The bigger one looked like the Daily Prophet so she settled for reading the smaller one first.

_Hermione,_

_We don't know who leaked the information but we promise we're working on trying to figure out who ratted you out. We're so sorry. See you soon._

_Harry._

Confused, Hermione let Harry's note fall as she quickly unrolled the newspaper. Sure enough, it was the Daily Prophet but the thing that completely took her breath away was the fact that her face was plastered on the front page with the headline: **Hermione Granger; A Werewolf.**

* * *

**If you're up to it, leave your thoughts or complaints in a review :) Sorry for any mistakes.**


	6. The Full Moon

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well aren't you lot lucky :) I tend to keep my updates on Friday but since my brother informed me earlier that he's bringing the twins tomorrow, I won't be able to update to tomorrow. The twins are terrible and I never have a second of peace when they're around.**

**Hope you enjoy the early update!**

* * *

It had only taken half an hour later since Harry's owl arrived that Hermione started receiving owl after owl after owl. It wasn't so bad seeing as the fifty or so owls swooped in and dropped off letters on her bed but when the first owl swooped in with a red envelope in it's beak, Hermione knew there weren't some happy witches and wizards out there.

Casting a quick silencing charm around her room, Hermione let the first howler open up and yell it's owners words.

"_HERMIONE GRANGER, YOU ARE A DISGRACE TO THE WIZARDING WORLD! AS IF IT WASN'T BAD ENOUGH THAT YOU DIDN'T DESERVE YOUR MAGIC, YOU ARE NOW RUNNING AROUND BEARING A CURSE THAT PUTS MANY MAGICAL BEINGS IN DANGER. YOU SHOULD HAVE JUST STAYED HIDDEN OR BETTER YET, OFF'D YOURSELF!"_

Hermione knew better than to let some stranger shake her but the words the howler spewed did hit a sore spot for her. The war was long behind them and yet some witch was still spewing at the mouth that she didn't deserve her magic. With a sigh, Hermione leaned back against the headboard of her bed and started to go through the letters one by one.

The first couple of letters were from people who didn't bother to sign their name, telling her pretty much the same thing that her first howler howled. She was a disgrace, she didn't belong, and how she posed a danger to everyone. She had immediately crumbled those, tossing them into a metal trash bin that she conjured up the middle of her room, and set fire to them. She thought about tossing them all, opened and unopened into the fire, but figured she'd read the first few lines of each one before she tossed them.

As soon as she got ready to dive right back into her letters, three more owls swooped in, all carrying howlers in their beaks and dropping them off on her bed. Figuring that all the howlers contained rude words from their owners, Hermione opened them all at the same time and let the words screech around her as she got started to read her letters again. All these strangers might feel the need to scream their opinion at her but that didn't mean she had to sit there and actually listen to them.

Letter after letter after letter proved to Hermione that all the witches and wizards out there hated her. She could understand that they would fear what she had become but she didn't think they'd be so cruel about it. Not even Remus had mentioned whether people treated him like this or not.

A knock on her bedroom door pulled her out of her thoughts, making her stand up and see who was on the other side of her door. When she was finally standing before her door, she let the door swing open only to have Lawrence standing on the other side.

"Sorry to wake you," Lawrence feebly smiled at her. "But it seems that I'm in dire need of some pain relief potion. The pain is throbbing uncomfortably at the moment."

"Sure, come on in." Hermione waved him in as she stepped back into her room to retrieve his potion. "And don't worry about it, I should've gone to you seeing as I've been awake for a bit now."

"I can see." Lawrence replied as he took in all the letters scattered about her bed.

Hermione fumbled through the drawer of her nightstand, finding Lawrence his bottle on pain relief and came across two bottles of wolfsbane. Hermione knew that tonight was the full moon but she should only have one bottle of wolfsbane left in her drawer, not two. Thinking back, Hermione groaned when she realized she hadn't taken it yesterday while she was getting ready for the party.

"Something wrong?" Lawrence asked.

"Yeah." Hermione turned to him, her face void of any emotion. "I forgot to take my potion yesterday so it pretty much rendered all the other times I took it useless. Looks like the wolf will be in total control tonight." Hermione wanted to scream out in anger for being stupid and careless, scream out in anger at how strangers could be so mean, and cry for having to live with this the rest of her life. Instead, she gestured for Lawrence to take his potion and started to lead him out of her room. "Do you want anything specific for breakfast?"

"Not particularly." Lawrence eyed her curiously. "Anything is fine by me."

"Okay." She nodded numbly.

Walking into the kitchen, Hermione immediately moved around and started to prepare themselves breakfast. She could feel the pull of the moon even though it was still early in the morning and her skin was practically crawling. She shook off the feeling, levitating plenty of bacon and eggs towards her, setting the bacon in the already heated pan and listened as it started to sizzle. She cracked the eggs with her wand, making sure that no eggshell landed in the pan, and scrambled them up some eggs.

With another lazy flick of her wand, bread flew into the toaster that rested on the counter and a kettle filled itself with water and placed itself on the stove.

Minutes later when the bacon, eggs, toast, and tea were plated in front of them, Lawrence dug in as Hermione slowly picked at her food.

"What's wrong?" Lawrence spoke around his food. He was stabbing at some eggs when Hermione opened her mouth to speak but cut her off before she got anything out. "And don't lie to me, I can tell something is wrong."

Hermione slumped in her chair, her fork clattering to the table as she breathed in and out deeply. Her eyes misted over with tears but she fought hard to not let them fall. "They hate me." She mumbled.

"Who does?"

"Everyone." Hermione sighed. The different emotions whirling inside of her at the moment was almost too much to bear. "Someone sold my story to the Prophet and now everyone knows what I am."

Lawrence smiled sadly at the girl who practically became his daughter and reached across the table, gripping her hand with his. "They're not worth your tears, darling. Your friends still stand by your side and even some of the customers, who didn't know who you were before, will stand by your side. You have a whole lot of us who care deeply for you so don't let those prejudice arseholes bring you down."

Hermione chuckled, the tears finally falling down her cheeks as she turned her hand over and squeezed his hand back. "Thanks but I think I'm just going to head to my room for the remainder of the day before I set out for the woods." She quickly stood and made her way back towards her room as Lawrence watched her sadly leave.

Inside her room, Hermione saw that an orange looking barn owl sat on her headboard, his or her feathers all ruffled and sticking up in every direction. For a split second, she was reminded of Crookshanks but quickly pushed that thought away as she went to retrieve yet another letter.

Hermione noticed that there were three magenta W's printed on the back of the envelope and she managed a weak smile when she realized whose owl this was. Leave it to the twins to have an orange owl. Either that or they magicked the poor creature to change color.

She fed the owl a treat, taking the letter from it's beak, and watched as the owl swooped out of her opened window. Opening up the letter, she saw the familiar scrawl of one of the twins.

_'Mione,_

_We saw the Prophet and figured we needed to see how you were doing. The bloke or bird who sold you out is a right git and deserves to be hexed within an inch of their life. You are entitled to your privacy and they had no right to do what they did._

_Anyhow, we'd thought we'd let you know beforehand that if we find out who ratted you out, well lets just say that they'll be a guinea pig for all of pranks. Tested and non-tested. Don't say we didn't warn you ;)_

_Well, it's early morning and we're still quite tired. Hope you're holding up alright seeing as the full moon is hours away and what not. And if you're not well, well then let's hope this letter at least made you smile. _

_We must get going now, the shop needs to be opened but we really do hope you are okay. If you need anything, don't be afraid to owl us. We're always here for you, no matter what._

_Gred and Forge._

Hermione actually smiled as she folded the letter back up and placed it back in the envelope. Their words actually made her feel a tad bit better than what the rest of the Wizarding Community was making her feel.

Deciding that she'd rather end her morning on a good note, she vanished all the unopened letters to her closet for another day and settled herself down on her bed for a quick nap.

**OoOoOoOo**

**oOoOoOoO**

Fred was a complete wreck when news about the Daily Prophet had reached the store. He and George had the Prophet delivered daily but seeing as nothing interesting was happening in the Wizarding World, they hadn't bothered to take a peek at it.

It wasn't until after their first round of customers came in that they started to hear mumbles of _"a werewolf is on the loose.." _and _"..the golden girl isn't so golden anymore.." _that George had become curious and asked what was going on.

"I-It's in the prophet, Mr. Weasley!" One boy quickly answered his idol. "It seems that Hermione Granger has made herself known and is now a werewolf!"

Fred had quickly scrounged up their issue of the day's Prophet and nearly choked on his own saliva when the boy's words were unmistakeably true. The front page bore a picture of Hermione and the article went into discussion how an unknown source came forward and claimed to have witnessed seeing Hermione Granger himself and that she was, indeed, a werewolf. He and George had quickly cleared and ushered out their early morning risers before taking a moment to write Hermione a letter.

After that, they calmed themselves as much as they could and reopened the shop.

As the day progressed, the news of Hermione as a werewolf became the Community's hottest gossip. With every customer, whether it was a teenager or an adult, Hermione's name was being slandered left and right. For the sake of their business, both Fred and George bit their tongue and tried their best to ignore what everyone was saying but Fred couldn't take it as easy as George was. The girl his feelings surrounded was being criticized on something that she had no control over and he was expected to not say anything.

Growing frustrated by the hour, Fred had had enough when one Wizard walked in talking loudly for anyone and everyone to hear. "..a bloody werewolf! Can you believe it?!" The second Wizard who had walked in with him had a look of disgust on his young face, shaking his own head side to side. "They should just chuck her in Azkaban with the rest of those vermin. Be done with it, I say."

The boxes of fake wands that Fred was currently restocking had all clattered to the floor, Fred gripping his own wand in his hand and seeking out the person who had just spoken out. His jaw was clenched tight, his narrowed gaze searching for his target when George gripped him by the arm. "Cool it, Freddie. I understand Hermione's our friend but she wouldn't want you getting yourself chucked in that grimy prison for hexing someone. Go upstairs to cool off, I can handle the shop." Fred's jaw only seemed to tighten more as he caught sight of the two Wizards still talking about Hermione but George shoved him in the opposite direction. "Go!"

Stalking towards the back of the shop, Fred peered over his shoulder and shot a tripping jinx in the direction where the two culprits were at. It didn't matter which one he hit as long as he hit one of them and within the next few seconds, displays could be heard crashing down to the floor. Fred smirked in triumph only to have it quickly vanish once he realized he was the one who had to help clean it up later.

Once upstairs in the privacy of his flat, Fred was still frustrated with how people were suddenly badmouthing Hermione. She had done nothing wrong and yet her secret was splashed all over the Prophet and people were immediately labeling her as dangerous.

Pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace, Fred was hit with the sudden urge to go see how Hermione was holding up in hopes that she'd be fine and he could return back to work in good spirits instead of trying to hex everyone that walked through their door.

Fred picked up some floo powder within his hand and wondered that if he tried to floo in to the bar, if he'd be able to get through or if they had closed it during the day. Deciding that it was better to find out for himself, he threw the powder down and shouted, "The Flaming Phoenix", and stepped into the green flames.

He twirled and flipped through the network, catching glimpses of other fireplaces when he found himself sliding out into an empty and darkened bar. Standing up, Fred was amazed that he hadn't hit a brick wall and was thrown back into his own flat while he dusted off any soot from his robes. He gazed about the bar that they had partied in just last night and chuckled at the streamers that still hung from wall to wall. Everyone was pretty hammered from what little he could remember and figured cleanup would happen another day.

Making his way to the back of the bar and up to a set of stairs that led upward, Fred took the steps one at a time. Once at the top, he knocked a couple of times and waited for someone to answer. He could hear heavy footsteps after a few moments and figured Lawrence was the one answering the door.

Sure enough, the door swung open and a pale, yet smiling Lawrence greeted Fred. "'Lo, Weasley. Come to check up on Hermione?"

"Yeah." Fred answered as Lawrence opened the door wider and gestured for him to come inside. "How's she holding up?"

"She had a bit of a breakdown earlier but I told her not to worry 'bout it too much." Lawrence sighed. Both he and Fred had walked over to the couch in the sitting area, Fred taking a seat while Lawrence chose to sit on the sofa chair next to the couch. "Told her that she had us who didn't care whether she was a werewolf or not and we'd stick by her to the end. After that, she left for a nap but hasn't woken up yet."

Fred shoulders visibly slumped. "Do you reckon' she's okay in there?"

"She's a big girl, Fred. Of course she's okay." Lawrence answered with a tired smile.

A door clicking shut cut off any further discussion and both men turned their gaze to Hermione who was standing in the hallway. "I'm fine, Fred." She grinned. "No need to come check up on me."

"Sorry." Fred apologized although he truly didn't mean it. "Got fed up with all the latest gossip at the shop and George sent me upstairs. Just thought I'd drop in and see how things were going."

"Things are fine." Hermione sighed. "Slept in way further than I anticipated so I was just about to head out and get ready for the night."

It was then that Fred finally realized how pale and tired she looked and even though she had just gotten loads of sleep, dark circles appeared beneath her eyes. "Full moon taking its toll, eh? Where you setting up?"

"Just in some woods." Hermione yawned. "The usual woods I transform in every full moon. I just have to set up some wards so I can't escape and I'm all set for the night."

"Good." Fred nodded along. "Because I'm coming with."

**OoOoOoOoOo**

**oOoOoOoOoO**

From the moment Fred had declared he was _"coming with", _Hermione had tried to argue with him that it wasn't the best idea but he simply heard none of it. Even when she told him that she forgot to take her wolfsbane potion, he completely ignored her, a smug smirk plastered on his freckled face as he looped his arm through hers and demanded she just get on with it. Lawrence had stayed quiet the entire time, his own smug grin encouraging Fred in his antics and agitating Hermione to the point where she lashed out by saying, "Oh, go drink another bottle."

Lawrence only laughed at her which turned into a coughing fit as he pushed the duo out the door and sent them on their way. Hermione threw a worrying glance in his direction, Lawrence waving it off as nothing. "Don't worry 'bout me. I can handle the bar all on my own."

Hermione snorted, clearly seeing that he wasn't well but Fred beat her to the punch of stating otherwise. "Well, uh, if you need any help, I'm sure I can send for my brother to help you out. He's sitting at home with my Mum and I'm sure he'd be glad for a chance to get out."

Hermione was going to argue but then figured that calling one of the Weasley's over was actually a good idea. "Yeah? Which one?" Lawrence look interested. "I like you lot, I do, but I think your twin would enjoy pulling pranks on my customers more than serving them."

Fred laughed but eventually shook his head. "Not George. Charlie! He was a Dragon Keeper in Romania but for some reason, he came back home."

"Well alright, then, send him over."

After a muffled _"Thank you" _from Hermione and a quick sending off of a patronus later, Hermione and Fred were off to the woods and Charlie eventually showed up to help out Lawrence.

**OoOoOoOo**

**oOoOoOoO**

Fred watched in utter fascination as Hermione performed charm after charm in the middle of the woods. One of her palms was faced outward while her other hand slashed her wand in the air as she chanted. When she had apparated them into a circular clearing in the woods, she instructed that he sit on a large boulder just behind them and to not interrupt her while she worked.

So sit he did.

Hermione usually set up her security ward to include the boulder but since Fred was needing a spot to stay, she excluded the boulder for tonight and pressed her ward further back towards the trees to make up for lost space. The warded space was just big enough for the wolf to run around and keep itself occupied for the night, and strong enough to keep the wolf locked in so she wouldn't break free and endanger anyone. When she had finally finished, Hermione walked up to Fred and took a seat on the boulder next to him.

"Still no chance of persuading you to go home?"

"Not a chance." He answered as he bumped her shoulder with his.

"Well if you become my personalized chew toy, don't say I didn't warn you."

"Such little faith in your own spell work, Granger. Shame on you." Fred chuckled.

And just like that, the two of them lapsed into a comfortable silence. Fred sat with a lazy smile upon his face whereas Hermione kept fidgeting with the falling sun. Minute by minute, second by second; time slipped away and Hermione could feel her body heating up further and her skin crawling.

When Hermione only had minutes left, she slipped off the boulder and made her way towards the middle. "If I were you, I'd either close my eyes or turn around." Hermione talked over her shoulder as she started to unbutton her pants. "I didn't bring a second change of clothes so I rather not rip these to shreds."

"You're joking." Fred chuckled. "You won't stand in the nud-" He completely cut himself off as Hermione started to shimmy out of her pants. His gaze instantly shot up, his eyes searching for anything to keep his focus on. "Blimey, you're not joking." He gulped.

With the wolf taking charge just seconds away, it seemed that she was quite bold. Hermione laughed as she peeled off her shirt next. The sky was slowly darkening as the sun sunk lower and lower, the moon becoming more visible by the second. Fred pulled at the collar of shirt, his face flaming as he thought of Hermione standing completely naked only a few yards away. He tried to think of something to say but his mouth had suddenly went dry.

Just when Fred had gotten over his dry mouth and figured out something to say, he heard Hermione gasp in pain and couldn't help but look. He caught sight of Hermione's side profile, she being down on her hands on knees while her arms and the shadows of the night covered anything she might have screamed at him for seeing. He watched on in horror as Hermione gritted her teeth through the pain, whimpers coming out every so often from her mouth as her body and limbs grew to accommodate the wolf's size. Her head of hair shortened while fur sprouted over her entire body.

The transformation all happened in under a minute, Fred watching as a caramel colored wolf took the spot Hermione had just occupied. As the clouds shifted and the beams from the full moon shone down on them, she sat back on her haunches, threw her head back, and howled into the night.

"Hermione?" Fred breathed.

The wolf instantly zeroed in on Fred, her swirling silver eyes zoning in on him where he sat in safety atop the boulder. She snarled, baring her teeth at him but after a few seconds, all snarling ceased as her head cocked to the side in confusion. She sniffed the air, her ears suddenly perking up as she bounded towards him. She crossed the space between them within the blink of an eye and as she leapt to tackle him, she hit an invisible wall and was thrown several feet back.

Fred scrambled to his feet in shock, torn between checking on her or not when she stood back up on all fours and whimpered with her ears flattened against her head. She looked like a pitiful dog that was denied something she desperately wanted and Fred instantly felt bad for her. She slowly made her way back towards him again, stopping just short of the invisible wall. Even in wolf form, Hermione caught on quickly. She lowered her head and rammed the wall gently, only to be shoved backwards again. Whimpering turned into growling as the wolf ran the perimeter of the barrier, determining where the invisible wall resided. She ran into the small portion of the woods she allowed herself when in human form, her body scraping against the trees and brush along the way. Her claws dug into the earth, scratched the trees around her, and eventually she turned the claws on her own legs.

"Hermione! Stop that!" Fred shouted. "Look over here!" He pleaded.

The wolf was not deterred by Fred, her growling and snarling getting louder and louder. He wanted to run in and pull her away from the trees or even stunning or freezing her to stop her from harming herself further. He knew that should he run in, he'd really turn into a chew toy like she had mentioned earlier.

He wracked his brain for anything, trying to come up with a solution so Hermione wouldn't scar herself further when he remembered stories of how the Marauders kept Remus busy during the full moon. He remembered stories of how they were all unregistered animagi but seeing as he wasn't, he came up with the next best thing. Pulling out his wand, Fred pulled some of his happiest memories to the forefront of his mind and shouted, "Expecto Patronum!".

The silver misty form of a fox shot out from the tip of his wand and ran around him before settling on the boulder next to his feet. He knew that a patronus could be used to deliver messages but he never heard of anyone controlling their patronus with their wand to move about as the witch or wizard pleased.

With a shrug of his shoulders, Fred thought about sending his fox towards Hermione and watched as his patronus sprinted up to the wolf. Upon seeing the misty form of a fox, the wolf ceased all moved and slowly walked up to it. Fred grinned as he moved his wand from side to side, directing the fox's movement and laughed to himself as Hermione followed it.

He soon got the fox to run around, the wolf yelping in happiness as she chased it.

The entire night, Fred controlled his patronus to keep the wolf occupied. When she got tired and rested, he'd let his fox disappear only to conjure it up later when the wolf was energized to move about.

**OoOoOoOo**

**oOoOoOoO**

Hermione groaned the following morning as she felt herself being lowered onto the couch in her and Lawrence's flat. As soon as she had transformed back into her human form, Fred was standing by with his robes held up and ready to wrap around her naked form. She could jinx him later if she thought he was trying to sneak a peek when she was most vulnerable.

"Well, that was interesting to see." Fred sleepily chuckled as he rested against the arm rest, one arm wrapped around Hermione's shoulders as she leaned into him. "Not quite what I expected, I must admit."

"Me either." Hermione mumbled.

Fred's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. "How so? Isn't it like that every full moon?"

"No." Hermione answered as she snuggled further into Fred, picking up her legs onto the couch and tucking them beneath her. "I always take wolfsbane so I can keep my mind in wolf form but seeing as I forgot to take it the day of the party, taking it yesterday wouldn't have mattered so I skipped it yesterday as well. I should have been more aggressive last night."

"But you were aggressive. You tried to attack me."

"At first," Hermione admitted. "But then we caught your scent and the wolf went into play mode. She recognized your scent and seeing as she likes you, she wanted to play."

"Likes me, eh?" He was suddenly wide awake now.

"Mhm." Hermione mumbled. "She wanted to play, not attack you."

Fred was now intrigued. "What do I smell like to her? To you?"

"Like cinnamon."

Fred was grinning goofily now, his thumb rubbing up and down Hermione's arm. He had stayed quiet for a bit, the silence being interrupted as he heard footsteps coming their way.

A grinning Lawrence came into sight a few seconds later, smiling down at the now sleeping Hermione who was curled up next to Fred. "Good luck tryin' to leave now. That one there will be dead asleep for hours."

Fred returned his grin, glancing down at the evenly breathing Hermione before replying. "It's not a bother to me. I quite like it here."

Lawrence chuckled at that, walking back towards his room as Fred got comfortable in his position and fell asleep there on the couch with the girl he fancied asleep in his arms.


	7. A Mother's Worry

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Surprise! And now enjoy!**

* * *

Ever since the night of the full moon, Fred made it his daily mission to visit Hermione and Lawrence on his lunch breaks with George tagging along every other day. Hermione had told them their day visits were pointless, that they could see her every night if they wanted to. She didn't like them wasting their lunch breaks above the bar with her and Lawrence but they always assured her it was well worth it.

Lawrence didn't mind the company, in fact, he secretly loved it. With the twins popping up daily, he was finally able to tell them apart which saddened the twins greatly seeing as they quite liked confusing the old man when they had the chance. What they couldn't figure out was how he did it. Both of them had their hair grown out a bit that it covered up the hole where George's ear once resided so they were quite stumped.

It didn't take long for Lawrence to finally fess up to George how he figured out who was who. The fact that Fred's gaze never strayed for too long off of Hermione was the biggest give away of all.

**OoOoOoOo**

**oOoOoOoO**

Hermione was up and moving around, Lawrence upstairs waiting for Hermione to open up the bar. After gaining her strength back, Lawrence couldn't help but notice the extra bounce in Hermione's step or the fact that she was smiling a lot more often.

The chairs were pulled off the tabletops, glasses and shot-glasses being pulled out from the back and ready to be filled when needed. Walking over to the door, Hermione waved about her wand and the security wards shimmered before falling down. She switched the 'closed' sign to 'open' and behind her, the fireplace came to life with green flames.

Stepping out of the flames, Charlie Weasley grinned at her as he patted away soot from the muggle jeans he was wearing. "'Lo, Mione. Am I not needed tonight?"

"Depends," Hermione crossed her arms across her chest. "Do you wanted to be needed tonight?"

"Merlin, yes." Charlie groaned. "I love my Mum and all but I really don't need her chasing me around the Burrow trying to cut my hair or telling me I need to settle down already."

Hermione laughed. "Alright, you can have my shift tonight. I need a day off anyway."

"You're brilliant, you are." Charlie crossed the space between them and squeezed her in a hug. "And by the way, if you're going to look for Fred, he and George are at the Burrow." He winked as he set Hermione back down.

"Is it that obvious?" Hermione's nose scrunched up, her cheeks tinting the faintest of pink.

"To some." Charlie's booming laugh echoed around the bar. "Now go." He nudged her in the direction of the door. "Go hang out with Fred and I'll bring Lawrence down in a bit."

Hermione made sure to tuck her wand in her wand pocket before she headed for the door, a smile tugging up the corner of her lips. "Thanks, Charlie." She called over shoulder.

**OoOoOoOo**

**oOoOoOoO**

Fred sat at the kitchen table, hands gripping the seat of his chair as he bit his tongue and hoped, no _prayed, _that he didn't lash out at his Mum. He loved the woman, he did, but sometimes she just didn't know when to keep her nose out of other people's business.

Since the night of the full moon, when he watched on as Hermione transformed, he couldn't help but feel proud of the witch. He could tell that the transformation was painful but the fact that when she transformed back to her human form and didn't complain, well that was pretty amazing. She took it in stride, regained her strength, and was back to just being a normal witch again. He'd never seen or heard of anything like it. Of course there was Remus but Remus never spoke much of his transformations.

And ever since the full moon, they've been inseparable. The morning after the full moon was a tad bit awkward when they woke up together on the couch but the awkwardness was quickly squashed as Hermione stretched and then got comfortable again. Since the day after that, any awkwardness was gone. They talked, they laughed, feelings grew, but not a move was made.

And now, _now, _his Mum was trying to take away all the good he had finally managed to build between himself and Hermione.

"Honestly, Fred, I don't see why you're spending so much time Hermione. Do you know that you're giving off the impression that you're already spoken for? You wouldn't want to give off that impression when you're looking to settle down."

If Fred could have banged his head repeatedly against the table top, he would have. "How do you know I'm not George?" He asked, hoping to steer her off the topic of Hermione.

"Because George would have denied that he wasn't looking to settle down right away or that he didn't like Hermione in that way." Molly shot back. "Now tell me, why are you spending so much time with Hermione when you could be looking for a possible future wife?"

He tried to think of a possible way to worm himself out of this discussion but he knew that she wouldn't leave him alone any time soon so he settled for the truth. "Maybe it's because I like her. Have you ever thought of that?" He challenged.

Molly whirled around to face her son, her face looking suddenly pale. "Well don't. That wer-.. that witch is no good for you."

Fred froze, his jaw hanging open and eyes wide before he snapped his mouth shut and narrowed his eyes at his own Mum. "What do you mean _no good_?! She's Hermione Granger, for crying out loud! You practically pushed her and Ron together when they were younger and now that that coupling is no longer happening and I have a shot, you suddenly think she's no good?"

"Yes, well, things change." Molly answered him, her hands resting on her hips as she gave him that _'I'm your Mother, don't you dare challenge me' _look.

"Unbelievable." Fred breathed as he shook his head back and forth. His Mum's words swam all around his head, his mind trying to get a grip on his Mum's sudden change of heart. _"Things change." _floated to the front of his mind and it suddenly clicked into place. "It's because she's a werewolf, isn't it?"

"I-.. Sh-.." Molly stumbled. "Well if you must know, then yes. It is because she's a werewolf. She's dangerous, Fred. Why can't you see that?"

Fred pushed away from the table, standing up and glaring at his own Mother. "She's our friend, Mum. You practically raised her as a second daughter and now you're standing here and telling me to stay away from her?! What's wrong with you?"

"Frederick Gideon Weasley!" Molly stood her ground. "How dare you speak to-"

"NO!" He cut her off. "How dare _you_ speak about Hermione like that. She was worried about being shunned from our Community but didn't dwell on it too long because she had us! How do you think she's going to feel when she finds out you're just as prejudiced as the rest of them?"

"I am not prejudiced!" Molly shouted. "Remus walks in and out of our home and I've never shunned him or denied him anything."

"Then why Hermione, Mum? Hmm? Why are you trying to push me away from Hermione?"

"Because she's a monster, Fred! She easily jeopardizes your safety and I won't sit back and watch you become one of them when she accidentally loses control of herself!"

**OoOoOoOo**

**oOoOoOoO**

Hermione stood in the middle of the sitting area, tears slowly streaming down her face. She wanted to be angry, she really did, but Molly did have a point. She was a danger to them all.

Fleur and Lavender both looked at her with sympathetic looks whereas Bill, George, and Ron looked livid. Hermione had stood there happily waiting for Fred to finish his talk with Molly when the discussion turned ugly. Bill, Lavender, and Fleur had heard it all while Hermione tried to ignore it but the tears had let them all know she heard it perfectly fine. As their little discussion had gotten louder, George and Ron were shocked and then visibly angry as they shook in their seats.

How dare Molly, their own flesh and blood, call Hermione a monster.

No-one made a sound, no-one heard a sound, and then finally Bill stood and strode towards the kitchen door.

"_Bill, dont.." _Hermione quietly pleaded.

He completely ignored her, striding right up to the door and pushed it open hard enough for it to collide loudly with the wall. George followed suit, as did Ron and Lavender, and finally Hermione. Fleur felt bad for the witch but she knew this wasn't her fight and that her husband would say enough for all of them.

"She's a monster, eh Mum? What about me? What about Lavender?" Bill spat when everyone was crammed into the kitchen. "What are we if not monsters?"

Molly's eyes widened at their sudden audience as did Fred's when he saw that Hermione was among them. "Y-you were not supposed to hear that."

"And why not?" Bill challenged. It was clear to anyone in the room that he was visibly pissed off at his Mother's earlier words. "Afraid to let your own child know that you think he's a monster? Or afraid to let your other child know that you think his girlfriend is a monster as well?" Molly shook her head. "Then what is it?! We all heard you, Mother, what you said about Hermione. Funny how Lavender and I are pretty much the same as her and yet you treat us with respect. Where's Hermione's respect?"

"You're not the same!" Molly snapped. Everyone in the room, with the exception of Bill, all flinched at her tone. "Hermione transforms into a werewolf, Bill! You and Lavender do not!"

"Be that as it may, Mother," Bill drawled in a deadly sneer. "Even though we don't take the form of the wolf, we still have the ability to infect others on the night of a full moon to be like us."

Molly shrunk back from the look her own son gave her and her whole demeanor changed. "I didn't think ab-"

"Exactly." Bill scoffed. "You didn't think. We may not be able to inflict the whole curse on someone else but we can still infect them with the tendencies."

Molly sighed and turned to face the crying witch/werewolf, an apology on the tip of her tongue. "Hermione, I'm.."

"Don't." Fred seethed. "You don't get to stand here and accuse Hermione of being a monster and then try to apologize when you realized your mistake. It's not that easy." Without another word, Fred turned away from his mother and marched out of the kitchen but not before he grabbed Hermione's hand within his own and dragged her along with him.

Slowly but surely, Bill and George followed. Only Lavender and Ron stood in the kitchen with a teary-eyed Molly.

"Do you really see us as monsters?" Lavender sniffled.

Molly opened her mouth to reply but Ron shook his head, grabbing Lavender by her shoulders and steered her out of the kitchen as well.

**OoOoOoOo**

**oOoOoOoO**

Fred took Hermione over to his flat that he shared with George. After the stunt that his Mother just pulled, he wasn't about to leave Hermione all by herself or let her go back to Lawrence without talking to her first. Bill had quickly and angrily apparated away with his wife while Ron did the same, only less angry, with his girlfriend. George didn't want to interrupt his twin's time with Hermione so he took himself over to the Flaming Phoenix and thought about filling in the others on what had happened so it wouldn't be such a shock when Hermione showed up with puffy, red-rimmed eyes.

At Fred's flat, Hermione sat on the couch with her knees up to her chest, arms wrapped around her legs, and her chin resting on her knees. Her face was void of any emotion yet you could still see the tracks on her cheeks that the tears had left.

Fred sat on the same couch with her, his back resting against the arm rest as his body turned to face Hermione. He hadn't spoken, not knowing what to say or what not to say seeing as his Mum pretty much tore her down back at the Burrow.

"She's right, you know." Hermione mumbled softly. "I am a monster."

Fred sighed, silently wishing he could take the last couple of hours back. "You're not." He told her. He wished that he could have her back in the mind set she usually had before his Mum fucked it all up. Hermione was perfectly fine before, perfectly content with how her life turned out and now she was doubting everything. "You're Hermione Granger. Always have been, always will be."

"But I'm different now. Dangerous."

"Only one night out of the whole month." Fred assured her. "And you're only dangerous to those dunderheads who attempt to cross your safety wards."

Hermione's lip twitched. "You almost attempted to cross them. What does that say about you?"

"That I care a whole lot about you." He honestly admitted, all traces of his previous teasing gone.

Hermione sighed, her shoulders slumping as she attempted to turn her body and face Fred. "What are we doing? What's going on between us?" She gestured back and forth between them.

"Something good?" Fred posed it as a question with his right eyebrow quirked. "From the way I see it, you like me and I like you. We enjoy each other's company and sometime in the near future, we'll end up taking things beyond the friend zone." Fred finally breathed, unaware that he was holding his breath during his little explanation. After all the time they spent together, he finally addressed the hippogriff in the room and got his feelings out of the way.

Hermione sat there as if sizing up Fred for the first time and a grin actually lifted up the corner of her lips since they had left the Burrow. "This is a bad idea, you know that right? People will judge you for fancying a werewolf."

Fred scoffed. "Yeah, well, that judgment will be coming from people who don't matter to me. The only people I'm worried about saying anything is George and he's already told me he's fine with it. In fact, he's been encouraging me to buck up and confess my feelings for a while now."

"Ah, I see." Hermione's grin widened. "George is the smarter twin."

Fred's eyes playfully narrowed as he reached forward and wrapped his hand around Hermione's ankle. Yanking her forward, he stopped when her legs were spread out over his. "As long as I'm the good looking one, it's all good." He winked.

**OoOoOoOo**

**oOoOoOoO**

Fred and Hermione stayed seated in the unusual sitting position for quite some time. She ended up laying back, her legs still dangling over Fred's while Fred rubbed his thumb back and forth over her shin. The silence between them was welcoming as both of them sat there and went over what was said between them in their own minds.

The floo in the flat activated and spat out a heavily breathing George. Right away, Hermione and Fred righted themselves and stood to see what was the matter.

"George?" Fred stumbled forward, worry etched into his facial expression. "What's happened?"

George looked up, trying to desperately catch his breath as his eyes sought out Hermione. "L-lawrence. He's collapsed. Charlie took him to St. Mungos."

* * *

**I realize that this is a lot shorter than I've been writing and I'm sorry. Half of this chapter wasn't even planned to begin with. Thoughts?**


	8. The Unexpected

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Ha, sorry for making you wait so long for the first kiss. When I started writing this, I intended for the final chapter(Ch. 9) to be when Fred and Hermione make everything official. But then I felt bad for stopping there so I added an epilogue that I'm sure you will all like. Well.. at least I hope you will.**

**P.S- Read the bottom AN. It's sort of important =/**

* * *

Hermione couldn't remember how she got to St. Mungos. One moment George was telling her that Lawrence had collapsed and the next, she was being spun, twirled, and squeezed before she realized that she was in the waiting room at the magical hospital.

She didn't care what her appearance looked like, which must have been terrible given the looks she was receiving, but all she cared about at the moment was locating Charlie to find out what really happened. George had been too short of breath to explain anything and before she could interrogate him, she was already at St. Mungos.

Her eyes easily passed over the waiting room's occupants and she finally found the familiar head of red hair near the back doors. His head was hung, eyes fixated on the floor while his left leg bounced nervously. As she moved to make her way to Charlie, many people gasped at her sudden movement while others pulled back their children out of her way. She heard someone scoff behind her shoulder before a larger and warmer hand slid into her own. Out of her peripheral vision, she saw Fred take his place right beside her and give her hand a reassuring squeeze.

When she was finally next to Charlie, she squatted down and placed free hand on Charlie's bouncing knee. "What happened?"

Charlie looked up, his face completely contorted with worry. "He just fell." Charlie mumbled. "I was pouring some drinks for the people, I heard Lawrence scream out in pain, and he.. he just fell."

Hermione didn't know what to say after that and she was pretty sure the Healers were doing everything they could so she took a seat in one of the empty chairs. Fred sat next to her, his hand never letting go of hers as he got comfortable in his own seat as well.

People were in and out of the waiting room, some families receiving good news whereas others received bad. She never thought she'd end up in a situation like this so soon and prayed to Merlin that she was one of the people who received good news.

Not long after Hermione had finally calmed her nerves; Harry, Ginny, Ron, George, Fleur, and Arthur showed up. George had informed everyone what had happened and since they all knew that Lawrence was practically family, they went to go show their support and wait to hear any news. After Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Arthur wished Hermione to receive good news, Fleur sat herself on the other side of Hermione.

"Bill said he was sorry about Lawrence." She patted Hermione's knee. "He is still quite upset from earlier this evening and is still cooling off at home."

"Thank you, Fleur." Hermione muttered. "And when you see Bill again, can you tell him I said thanks for standing up to Molly earlier? I was just too shocked to even say anything and Bill went in there and pretty much said everything I was thinking."

"Of course." Fleur assured her. "Bill was in the right to stand up to Molly. What she said was horrible and even Arthur agrees with all of us." Hermione's eyes widened and Fleur nodded. "Yes, George filled in Arthur and Arthur and Molly had a row. Which is surprising since the man never raises his voice."

"Oh, no." Hermione groaned. "He shouldn't have! I don't want them to start having problems now just because-"

"Nonsense." Fleur cut her off. "Molly was in the wrong and even she knows it. If anything, prepare for many apologies to find you and lots of home-cooked food to be delivered."

Hermione sighed, feebly nodding her head as she slumped back into her chair.

**OoOoOoOo**

**oOoOoOoO**

It seemed like they were sitting there for days when in actuality it was only two hours they were left waiting. More people were in and out, others whispering about Hermione even though she could perfectly hear them, and the entire time there, Fred sat with her hand held in his. If Hermione had been paying attention, she would've seen the winks and waggle of eyebrows that George, Ron, and Harry were shooting Fred. Which, of course, were all returned with a glare from Fred since now wasn't the time to be joking.

The doors that were often opening and closing opened yet again, a Healer wearing light blue robes and a clipboard in his hand emerging from the back. His eyes scanned his clipboard before he called out, "Family of Lawrence Lowe?".

Hermione was instantly on her feet, her hand ripped out of Fred's as she quickly made her way to the Healer. "That's me. What's the news about Lawrence?"

The Healer took one look at her, his eyes studying her before he frowned. "Miss Granger, I cannot give out this information unless you're family and since I last remembered, Mr. Lowe didn't have any muggleborn family members."

"With all due respect, sir," Harry was up out of his seat and now standing next to Hermione. "Hermione is his family. Lawrence practically adopted her when she went missing after the war."

"I'm sorr-"

"Please." Hermione cut the Healer off, tears starting to gather in her eyes. "I was the one who brought him in the first time he fell ill. I'm the person whose been brewing and making sure he takes his pain relief potion. I'm all he's got left." She sniffed.

The Healer looked torn, his gaze flickering back and forth between Hermione, Harry, and all the Weasley's in the background who were looking expectantly at him. "Very well." He sighed. "If you can please give us a moment of privacy, Mr. Potter?"

Harry agreed, quickly shuffling backward to his seat next to Ginny and waited. The Healer pulled Hermione to the nearest corner and sighed yet again. He pinched the bridge of his nose before his hands gripped the clipboard in his hands. "I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this but Mr. Lowe passed away." Shock ignited on Hermione's face, the tears gathering more quickly. "The cirrhosis of his liver was far too progressed and since he had denied a transplant or any magical help, it was only a matter of time before his body failed him. I'm so sorry."

Hermione gulped, absentmindedly nodding her head as the Healer walked away. She slowly slid down the wall, her knees to her chest as the sobs tore through her body. Fred was on his feet in an instant, along with Harry and Ron who were by her side in the next second.

"What happened?" Ron softly demanded.

"What did he say about Lawrence?" Harry tried.

"Hermione?" Fred kneeled before her. "What's going on?" The sobs continued, her entire body shaking as she hid her face in her folded arms over her knees. She heard her friends perfectly fine but she couldn't quite say it yet.

Lawrence, the man who became a father figure to her, was dead.

"Come on," Fred grabbed her by the wrists. "Let's get you up on this floor." Hermione let Fred pull her up, the sobs still echoing throughout the waiting room. All the Weasley's were quite shaken by Hermione's sobs and didn't know what to do.

"Should we take her home?" She heard George mutter. "Everyone is starting to stare at her."

"No!" Hermione violently shook her head. "No, I can't leave. I have to s-stay and make a-arrangements."

"For what, 'Mione?" Ron pressed. "What did the Healer tell you?" By the way Hermione was crying, they all had a good idea what the news was but they needed their friend to confirm it.

"He's dead." She sniffled. "Lawrence is dead."

**OoOoOoOo**

**oOoOoOoO**

Hermione currently found herself back at Fred and George's flat. After hours of filling out paperwork at St. Mungos and making arrangements to have Lawrence's body moved, Hermione found herself extremely exhausted. Arrangements for the funeral were confusing to her seeing as she'd never done it before so Charlie had took over after he shut down the bar and sent away outside stragglers.

Fred had attempted to take Hermione back to her home but as soon as they floo'd into the bar, Hermione broke down all over again and Fred immediately took her back to his flat.

So there she sat, a blanket draped over her lap as she stared down at her hands. Tears were no longer an issue, seeing as she pretty much ran out of tears to cry earlier. Everyone had decided to drop by every once in a while to see how she was holding up but when she remained quiet and refused to talk about anything, Fred and George sent them all way. They eventually closed down their floo and warded the shop and flat so no-one could apparate in.

The moon was high in the sky and Hermione hadn't budged from her spot. George had fallen asleep long ago and Fred had stayed up so Hermione wouldn't be alone. He stayed in his room, giving Hermione her space and only came out when he needed something from the kitchen or made an excuse to bother his twin.

She didn't move an inch and the only reason why Fred knew she hadn't kicked the bucket herself was because of her steady, yet heavy breathing. It was nearing one in the morning when Fred finally had enough.

"Hermione, you need to get some sleep."

She turned her head to the left to glance at Fred over her shoulder and shook her head. "I'm not tired." She mumbled.

"The hell you're not!" Fred silently fired back so he didn't wake George. "You've got some terrible news today, had to fill out a ridiculous amount of paper work, and have sat here for hours staring into nothing. Get some rest or I'll pour some sleeping draught down your throat."

Hermione stared up at Fred in shock, her eyes wide before she slowly nodded. "Fine. I'll lay here." And with that, Hermione lowered herself onto the couch and curled up.

The next two days were hectic, people in and out of the twin's flat to check up on Hermione and Charlie telling her that he had everything planned for the funeral. The funeral would be the following day and since Lawrence's family had disowned him, it was up to Charlie to secure a plot in another cemetery to have Lawrence rest in peace.

**OoOoOoOo**

**oOoOoOoO**

The shiny black and silver casket was lowered into the ground, Hermione being the last one to watch on as the Funeral Home workers covered up Lawrence with the dug up earth. Throughout the entire ordeal, Fred had let her grip his left hand whenever she pleased and Harry had gave her free hand a reassuring squeeze every now and then. All the Weasley's, including Molly, had showed up to Lawrence's funeral as well as the regular customers from the Flaming Phoenix.

Wiping away the last of her tears, Hermione bid her last farewell before turning her back on Lawrence's headstone and left to join the others at the foot of the small hill. On her way down, Remus and Tonks stopped her for a quick goodbye.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Tonks hugged her. "I know it's tough right now but you're a tough witch yourself. You'll get through this soon."

"Thank you." Hermione sniffled as she pulled back and Remus pulled her into a hug of his own.

"Yes, sorry about Lawrence and sorry we didn't make your party the other night. It was just too close to the full moon for me and I was already anxious seeing as Dora was sick."

"It's okay." Hermione assured him. "I understand." Remus pulled back, smiling feebly down at her. With a quick kiss to her temple, Remus and Tonks apparated away.

When she finally stood shoulder to shoulder with all her friends at the foot of the hill, an unfamiliar short man with graying hair and a muggle suitcase approached them.

"Hermione Granger." He greeted as he smoothed down his tie and caught Hermione's gaze. "I'm Evan Stone, Mr. Lowe's attorney, and I have some business to speak with you about."

"Business?" Hermione questioned. "What of?"

Evan Stone shrugged his shoulders. "Lawrence left behind a will." He smiled at her. "Now can we speak in private?" He asked as his gaze traveled over the faces of Harry, Ginny, Ron, Lavender, Fred, and George.

"Any business you have with me will later be retold to them." Hermione sighed. "Might as well get everything said and done in front of them and help save me some time so I don't have to repeat this later on."

"Very well." A wand instantly shot down from Evan's business jacket sleeve and landed gracefully in the palm of his hand. Tapping it against his suitcase, a piece of parchment floated out and unrolled before their eyes. Clearing his throat, Evan scanned the parchment before he found what he was looking for and began to read. "To Miss Hermione Granger, the daughter I've always wanted, I leave you the property and ownership of The Flaming Phoenix as well as the flat above. Along with the property, you will also find that after seventy-two hours of my funeral, seventy-five percent of my Gringott's gold will be transported into your personal vault."

Hermione stood shocked, her mouth hanging open. Her friend's jaws were hanging open as well.

"H-he left me all that?" Hermione squeaked. "But why? Surely he had friends he knew longer than myself that he would have trusted with his bar!"

Mr. Stone smiled over at Hermione, his hand coming up to pat her arm. "Miss Granger, if I may speak.." He trailed off as Hermione numbly nodded at him. "I've known Lawrence for quite some time and trust me when I say this, he truly did love you as a daughter. When you came into his life, I noticed a change in that old man. He was the happiest I've ever seen him since his family kicked him out. He knew what he was doing when he left you with his precious bar."

"O-okay." She gulped.

"And now, on to other matters." Mr. Stone grinned. He turned his attention to Fred and George. Or was it George and Fred? He shook his head clear before grinning at the twins. "The Weasley Twins, I see. There's something for you two, too." He tapped his briefcase again, an envelope and a key flying out to levitate in front of them. He put away his wand and grabbed the two objects from mid-air. "Well, Mr. Weasley's, I leave you with this envelope and key. Lawrence told me that the letter inside should explain everything." The twins were now even more shocked than before, their minds trying to find out why Lawrence would leave _them _something in his will. Mr. Stone handed one twin the envelope and the other twin, the key. "Good day to you all." He stated as he let them be.

Ron peered over Fred's shoulder and got a look at the key Fred was holding. "Isn't that a key for a Gringott's vault?"

George immediately tore open the envelope, his fingers hurriedly taking out the parchment inside and frantically reading what Lawrence had left them. The shock slowly faded from his face, only to come back full force before slowly falling away into a lazy grin and chuckle.

"What is it? What's it say?" Harry piped up.

George handed over the letter to Fred so his twin could read it out loud.

_To Mister Fred and George Weasley,_

_I'm sure this has come as a surprise to you but fear not, I truly mean what I am about to say and give away. Since I first met the two of you, I couldn't help but notice how much my Hermione brightened up when you were around. She was happy before but there was something different, something brighter that awoken up in her when she sought out her friends._

_You two were a constant in her life since the moment I met you lot and seeing Hermione at her happiest before I died was well worth putting up with your pranks against my poor innocent bar._

_And speaking of pranks, I'm sure you're wondering why I also left you in possession of a Gringott's vault key? Well the answer is simple. The other 25 percent of my money has been emptied into a new account with the Weasley name. You can use the money for whatever you wish but might I just throw in that you keep up the good work with your prank line. I know Hermione isn't very fond of pranks but deep down, I'm sure she secretly loves it. _

_Keep that girl on her toes, boys, seeing as I'm no longer there to keep her company. I'm sure she's going to need someone to keep her grounded after my funeral and Fred, I'm counting on you for that._

_Thanks for bringing Hermione joy, dear boy, and I hope to see you again in the far future._

_Lawrence._

Fred looked up from reading, his eyes catching on with Hermione's who was grinning through her tears.

"Wow. That was bloody nice of the bloke." Ron muttered.

* * *

**And now, some unexpected news of my own. This is rather personal but I figured I'd let you all know in case I drop off the face of the internet and you all are wondering why. In 2006, my Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. They got rid of it the first time but then it came back and they got rid of it again. Last year, they saw that it moved up into her neck and now it's spread to her lungs, heart, and liver. She's going through chemo and on chemo pills for the time being but the Doctor already gave her a time limit on her life. If I ever stop updating, if I ever stop giving you personal updates on tumblr, well then the worst has probably happened and I'm away to be with my family.  
**

**Don't worry though. I'm still going to keep writing for as long as I can. Writing gives me a couple of hours to escape from reality and that's what I need at the moment. If you have any questions, PM me. If you have any personal questions, I have two tumblrs that I'm constantly updating and a personal twitter you can reach me at.  
**

**Harry Potter tumblr: hogwarts- secret- keeper . tumblr . com  
**

**My personal tumblr: melissalzn . tumblr . com  
**

**My personal twitter(which you're likely to be answered right away): melissaWTF  
**


	9. The Decision

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: For those of you who don't look at my HP tumblr, I just thought I'd take the time to say "Thank you!". Your kind words about my Mom and your own personal stories truly meant a lot :)**

* * *

The following couple of days after Lawrence was laid to rest was probably the hardest for Hermione. The loyal customers to The Flaming Phoenix left cards and flowers outside the bar and some even took over food whenever they caught Hermione there. She didn't have to worry about switching the paperwork and having the bar and flat registered under her name because Lawrence had already done it. The only thing that she had to do on her own was rearrange the security wards to her liking.

Mrs. Weasley had tried numerous of times to apologize to Hermione but she wasn't hearing any of it. Of course she wanted to forgive Molly and get it over with but with the full moon nearing and now only a couple of hours away, the wolf was hearing none of it. Hermione might have forgiven Molly for calling her a monster but the werewolf wasn't anywhere near as forgiving.

Tonight would be the first night that Hermione reopened the bar as her own and it also just happened to fall on the night of the full moon.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoO**

**oOoOoOoOoOoOo**

"Are you sure you're not busy? I don't want to pull you away from anything." Hermione was kneeling on hands and knees, her head completely gone as she spoke to Charlie through the floo network.

"I'm sure." Charlie chuckled. "Mum had some chores for me to complete but I find myself in the mood to be doing something else. Where am I flooing over to?"

"The Flaming Phoenix." Hermione told him. "And I will not be held responsible when Molly finds out you skipped out on chores."

"Please." Charlie scoffed. "I'm an adult. I shouldn't be doing chores anyway. Now move aside so I can step through."

Hermione laughed before moving out of the way, Fred standing beside her and helping her up to her feet. Not a second later, Charlie stepped through without an ounce of soot covering his muggle attire.

"Alright, alright. What is this nonsense you must talk with me about that resulted in you pulling me away from my hard work at home." He playfully sneered.

Hermione and Fred both rolled their eyes and ended up chuckling along with Charlie. "It's all Hermione's doing." Fred threw in. "If you get in trouble, blame Hermione."

"Thanks for the support, Fred." She elbowed him in the ribs. He grimaced as he rubbed his injured side and Hermione gestured for Charlie to follow her towards the bar. "Come on and take a seat. I have a favor to ask of you but you can decline if you want. Don't feel pressured to give me a positive answer."

"Alright. Shoot." Charlie sat down on one of the stools, Fred sitting next to him while Hermione walked around behind the bar.

"Well," Hermione sighed. "As you know, tonight is the full moon and the reopening of the bar since.. well since you know." She stumbled over her words, the wolf within her mind growling for her to buck up and stop mumbling like a fool. "Fred and George are coming with me tonight for certain reasons and well, I was wondering if you could handle the bar tonight?"

Charlie raised a curious eyebrow at Hermione and his brother. "So you're trusting me to handle the bar all on my own tonight?"

"Yes."

"All on my own?"

"Of course."

"Are you crazy?!" Charlie laughed. "You're really going to leave this establishment in my control?"

"Yep. And if you don't mind, maybe you can help me out as a full time bar-keep and have control every full moon? I'll be paying you of course." Hermione bit her bottom lip, hoping that Charlie would say yes. The wolf within was smugly grinning, knowing full well that Charlie wouldn't turn her down. Hermione knew a bit about running a bar but she wasn't going to be able to do it on her own and Charlie seemed to know what he was doing.

Charlie's grin was instantly wiped away, his jaw slacked. "Full-time? And pay?" Hermione nodded while Fred looked on in amusement. "Yes!" He practically shouted. "I've been dying to have a job since I've been back home but working at the Ministry with Dad didn't seem so appealing."

"Good. You start tonight." Hermione finally smiled now that Charlie had agreed, the wolf purring in acceptance.

Green flames lit up the darkened bar, George stumbling out with soot covering his nose and cheekbones. Hermione, Fred, and Charlie all smiled in greeting as he made his way over to the bar and sat on the other side of of Charlie.

"Got rid of those early morning customers." George grinned. "Closed up shop so we're all set for tonight."

"Brilliant." Fred breathed.

"And what's going on tonight?" Charlie glanced back and forth between the twins.

"Nothing." Fred feigned innocence.

"Just a little experiment." George smirked.

Hermione rolled her eyes before she went to the back, bringing up glasses that Charlie would need for tonight and stacked them beneath the bar-top.

"If you say so." Charlie looked suspicious. "But if you two end up werewolf chew toys, Mum's going to be really pissed."

Hermione snorted in amusement, hiding her grin as she remembered telling Fred that he would end up a chew toy the first time he was with her during a full moon.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoO**

**oOoOoOoOoOoOo**

Hermione sat on the boulder that she had claimed as hers and waited for the return of the twins. Turned out that her little clearing where she turned every full moon wasn't that far off from Shell Cottage which is where the twins were at the moment visiting their other brother.

Her arms were wrapped around her legs but beneath her knees as her eyes scanned the circular clearing. She liked Fred, she really did, but she couldn't believe that she let herself be talked into doing this. They had yet to kiss, only hand holding and loads of flirting was currently happening between them. In order for Hermione to finally be able to accept the next step in their relationship, she had to be truly sure that her wolf wouldn't harm Fred. In order for that to happen, she had to forgo the entire week's worth of wolfsbane so her wolf would have the clearest mind possible.

This past week had been a shock for Hermione. She had expected to internally fight with her wolf's mind but seeing as Fred was practically joined to her hip now-a-days, the wolf was oddly at peace and quiet. The only time she acted up was when another female, whether it be a friend or stranger, showed up causing the wolf to stand guard. Other times, the wolf would make Hermione act bold when another male joined the crowd. Needless to say, Hermione had an easy enough time of controlling her inner she-wolf.

Two _cracks _sounded to Hermione's left and she caught sight of Fred and George, each of them holding a wooden basket each.

"_Blimey, Fleur has turned into Mum." _Fred groaned.

"_Yeah and for a second, so did Bill." _George chuckled. _"Be careful you two. I'm sure 'Mione has everything under control for everything tonight but still, be careful." _George did his best impression of their older brother.

"_At least we got all this delicious food." _

The two of them were now standing next the boulder, matching grins adorning their faces.

"Bill sends his luck." Fred grinned. "Fleur-"

"Is exactly like Molly and Bill said to be careful tonight." Hermione grinned back as she tugged on her earlobe. "I heard all of it."

"'Course you did." George laughed. "Want any food so you're not hungry tonight?" He held up his basket. "Fleur sent loads and Bill sent his favorites."

Hermione smirked in response. "Afraid I might try to take a bite out of you tonight?" She chuckled as she moved to drop down from her seat, wolfishly grinning and winking at him.

Fred laughed out loud, patting his twin on the back as George gulped. "N-no. Should I be worried?" The quiver in his voice set Fred off on another wave of laughter.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoO**

**oOoOoOoOoOoOo**

With their stomachs full, the three of them watched as the sun started to sink and the countdown for Hermione's transformation begun.

"Now, you two remember the plan right?" Hermione stood up and started to walk past the safety wards she had placed up earlier. "You can not hesitate to use your wand against me should the wolf decide not to play any longer or find Fred an enemy."

"We got it." George piped up, a little too eager to see Hermione transform and put his twin in terrible danger. "You transform, Fred crosses into your domain, and if you lunge at him to attack, I stun or freeze you so Fred can get back to my side of the wards."

"Right." Hermione grinned. She knew that if anyone could handle what was about to go down, George would be the one. He wouldn't let anything happen to Fred no matter who the attacker was.

Hermione turned her back on them as she started to unbuckle her jeans. "Did she get naked the last time too?" George waggled his eyebrows at Fred.

"Yes, George, I did." Hermione answered him. "But your brother was quite the gentlemen and looked away. He didn't watch me strip."

George groaned as Fred elbowed him in the stomach and covered his eyes just as Hermione's pants were being pushed down her thighs. After a few seconds of clothes rustling and a couple seconds of silence, a sharp gasp echoed throughout the clearing. The sun was nowhere in sight, the moon beaming down on them.

Fred easily watched on as George looked slightly horrified at what he was seeing. "Is that supposed to happen?" He pointed as Hermione's body started to elongate in the shadows. Fur started to sprout up and down her body, her own head of hair shortening while her nails grew into claws. "Does she go through this every full moon?" Bones cracked and grew to accommodate the wolf's body and teeth grew into sharp points.

After a few whimpers, in the spot Hermione was just kneeling was now a full grown she-wolf.

"Blimey." George breathed. "How did you stay so calm while all this happened?" He asked Fred.

Before he could answer, an ear splitting howl tore through the night. "Here goes nothing." Fred gulped. He had seen Hermione as a wolf once before but that was from a spot of safety. Now, he was leaving the comfort of safety to see if he was the one the wolf would let Hermione be happily with.

He passed the threshold of the safety wards, slowly taking it step by step as he neared her. George had stayed behind, walking the perimeter of the wards so he could have a clear shot at the wolf should she lunge at his twin. With only a few yards separating them, Fred cleared his throat to get her attention.

The wolf's head snapped in his direction, her silver eyes shining as she watched Fred's every move. Standing up on all fours, she sniffed the air between them and whimpered. Taking that as a good sign, Fred walked a bit closer.

A fallen stick snapped beneath George's feet, catching the wolf's attention as she turned to face him. Her lips pulled back, baring her razor sharp teeth as she snarled at him. George stopped dead in his tracks, as did Fred when the wolf stared back at him again. Brandishing his wand, George broke out into a run so his shot would be even clearer and he was positive he wouldn't hit his twin.

The wolf followed George's movement, growling at him before she looked back at Fred. Fred saw her lips twitch and ears lower a bit when she was looking at him, her eyes darting back and forth between him and his twin. He noticed that she hadn't moved a muscle to attack him but he wasn't quick enough to stop George.

Swishing his wand, a silent spell left the tip of George's wand but the wolf easily jumped out of the way, put Fred between them once again. She snarled, crouching down into a position so she was ready to attack. She lunged, jumping clear over Fred's head and landed herself between the brothers. She growled at George, her claws digging into the earth as she shuffled backwards and pushed Fred further away from his twin.

"What's she doing?" George paused before sending off another hex.

"I-.. I think she's protecting me." Fred sounded impressed. "She sees you as a threat so she put herself between me and you."

"That's ridiculous." George scoffed, his wand lowering. "I'm your twin. I wouldn't hurt you."

"Hermione knows that." Fred started to smirk. "But the wolf doesn't."

George caught on to what Fred was saying and made a show of stowing his wand away. When his wand was safely tucked away, he held up his hands in mock surrender.

The wolf stopped growling, her eyes never leaving George as she sniffed the air. Catching no sense of danger, she slowly walked towards George and sniffed again. She bowed her head, whimpering in apology before turning back around and nudging Fred in the stomach.

"What's she want?" George asked.

Fred shrugged his shoulders, not knowing either, as the wolf grabbed his shirt with her teeth and tugged him down to the ground. Once he was seated comfortably, the wolf curled up beside him and laid her head in his lap.

"Aw." George cooed from the boulder he now sat upon. "All she-wolf wants is a cuddle." Snarling, the wolf's head snapped in George's direction and bared her teeth. "Or not." He gulped.

Fred laughed, carefully laying his hand atop the wolf's head and smoothed his fingers through her fur. He wasn't sure but he could've sworn he heard a purr of approval.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoO**

**oOoOoOoOoOoOo**

Waking up, Hermione noticed that she was warm. Well, at least warmer than she usually was when waking up after a full moon. A cloak was draped over her naked form and an arm was substituting as a pillow beneath her head. Carefully opening her eyes, she saw the face of one Fred Weasley smirking down at her.

"She didn't kill, I see."

"Did you doubt her?" Fred continued to smirk.

"Maybe. I knew I liked you and she put up with you that one night but I wasn't sure you were truly what she wanted."

"Well. I am, love. You're stuck with me."

Hermione shifted, drawing the cloak tighter to her body as she looked around the clearing. "What happened to George? I didn't scare him off last night, did I?"

At this, Fred started to laugh. "Not really." He sat up, pulling Hermione up with him. "But he did get tired of you growling at him so he left and said he'd meet us at our flat later today." He caught sight of dirt and debris clinging to Hermione's back so he brushed it away.

Hermione jumped from his touch, her cheeks coloring pink when she realized again that she was naked. "So how are we going to go about our relationship now?" She mumbled as she tried to distract herself from Fred's fingers walking along her bare back.

"Hmm.." Fred grumbled, his fingers tracing patterns now. "I guess we just go ahead and jump right in." His hot breath was right on her shoulder, a lot closer than Hermione thought he was.

Turning her head to glance over her shoulder, Fred's lips lightly brushed against hers. Instead of shying away or apologizing, both held their ground and leaned in further until their lips were fully pressed together. Tongues licked and melded together, teeth nibbling on lips, and breath mingled together. Hermione and Fred pulled apart, Hermione instantly going bashful as she realized her hands had somehow managed to snake their way into Fred's hair and the cloak covering the front of her body had fell to her lap. Being the gentleman that he is, Fred kept his gaze on her face to avoid making her feel embarrassed but couldn't help resist waggling his eyebrows at her.

"One word.." Hermione threatened. Chuckling, Fred held up his hands in mock surrender and feigned innocence. After Hermione had recovered herself, she lazily grinned at Fred. "So, I guess this means you're all in, huh?" She knew that Fred was more than ready to finally make their relationship legit but she just needed to hear his confirmation.

"Oh, yeah." Fred gave his own wolfish grin to Hermione. "I'm all in." He muttered before swooping back in and claiming Hermione's lips in another kiss.

* * *

**Sorry for any mistakes. My brother was distracting me while I was editing.  
**

**Epilogue is next.**


	10. Epilogue

Hermione and Fred sat outstretched on their couch, her back against his chest, in the flat they now shared above The Flaming Phoenix. After months of dating and going back and forth from flat to flat, Hermione had finally gathered up the courage to ask Fred to move in. She was afraid of taking him away from George and leaving George roommate-less but Charlie quickly squashed that thought when he proposed to George that he ought to take Fred's old room. He only meant it in a joking manner but George took him seriously and helped Charlie move in not long after.

It was then a year later that Fred proposed, and a few months later that Hermione was officially a Weasley. People were quick to jump to conclusions as to why they married so fast but Hermione only snarled at them. She wasn't pregnant, at least not yet, and the reason for them getting hitched right away after Fred's proposal was because they didn't see any use in waiting. They knew they were _it _for one another and wanted to officially cement their relationship.

With the wedding came the reconciliation of Molly and Hermione's relationship as well as the mending of bridges between Molly, Bill, and Lavender. It had taken them quite a while to forgive each other but at last, it was done.

Now a whole seven years later, they sat together on their couch as they stared down at their five year old daughter playing with building blocks. Her curly red hair was braided down her back, big brown doe eyes concentrating at keeping her multi-colored building standing tall.

"If you concentrate any harder, love, those wrinkles are gonna be permanent around your beautiful eyes." Fred called out.

"Yes, daddy." Came the reply, her brow still furrowed causing wrinkles around her eyes.

The block tower kept getting higher and higher, and just when the tower started to collapse, Jean held out her hands to catch the blocks only to have them levitate mid-air and rebuild itself.

"Jean Ginerva Weasley." Hermione sat up straighter. "What have we told you about underage magic?"

"Sorry, Mum." Jean was startled which caused to the tower to crumble. "I didn't mean to."

Hermione breathed as she leaned back into Fred. "It's okay, love."

Fred and Hermione weren't married for long before they found out Hermione was pregnant Jean. Everything should have been fine and dandy, a baby was going to be born, but Hermione spent most of her time in worry. She had a difficult pregnancy, always worrying that some werewolf traits would be passed to her daughter but Ginny came to her sister-in-law's rescue and was there for her whenever she needed company. Hermione's blood-pressure was constantly high which compromised the baby's safety so Ginny's positive spirits was always good to keep Hermione in the positive as well.

It was a blessing in disguise when Jean Ginerva was born without the werewolf traits, Ginny crying tears of joy in the hospital room after her niece was born.

Hermione snuggled against Fred, his hands coming around to rub the swell of her again pregnant belly. She smiled, letting her hands rest atop of Fred's and entwined their fingers together. Only six months pregnant, Hermione's belly was clearly visible as their twin boys were growing by the month. This pregnancy was no easier than the first, Hermione even more worried about her boys getting the werewolf traits since it skipped their daughter. Fred thought she was just being paranoid but even their Healer told them it was likely the boys had a higher chance of inheriting some traits.

Of course, Ginny was now back at their side and keeping Hermione as sane as possible.

"What's going on through that mind of yours?" Fred kissed Hermione's temple.

"What's been going through my mind for the past six months?" Hermione countered as she sighed.

Fred sighed as well, shifting so he could turn his wife's head to look at him. "How many times do I have to tell you that everything is going to be alright?" He kissed her forehead. "It doesn't matter if the boys inherit some traits. They're going to be loved whether they gain your furry little problem or not." He chuckled.

Hermione weakly elbowed him, flashing him a grin. "I know." She told him. "But they're going to be bullied and looked down upon by everyone they meet. I don't want that for them."

"As if people would dare bully our children." Fred scoffed. "Their parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins will make sure harm does not fall upon them as soon as they're born."

"And Molly?" Hermione challenged. "She hated me at first, remember? She was terrified for Jean before we all found out she was perfectly healthy. What's not to make her hate me again if and when the boys act like a wolf on the full moon?"

Fred smirked and chuckled. "Don't be daft. Mum learned her lesson ages ago. She loves you and the grandchildren you're giving her."

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief, gave a quick chaste kiss to her husband, and got comfortable again against him. Fred's hands resumed their position on Hermione's swollen belly as they watched their daughter put away her blocks and retrieve a coloring book and crayons.

They watched on as their daughter colored, their peaceful silence being interrupted as green flames erupted in their fireplace as Harry and Ron stumbled through.

"Uncle Ron! Uncle Harry!" Jean scrambled up from her spot on the floor and hurled herself at her uncles, wrapping one arm each around their waist as they stood side-by-side.

"Hey there little red," Harry greeted his niece. "Having fun today?"

"Mhm."

"I hope you've had lunch already." Ron shook a paper bag in front of her face. "Grandma sent over some sweets for you to enjoy."

"Oh yes, I have!" Jean eagerly swiped the bag from her uncle. When the bag was safely in her clutches, Jean ran back to her spot on the floor and dug through the variety of cookies her Grandma had sent her.

"OI!" Ron shouted. "Don't hog them all. Some are for your Mum and brothers." Jean ignored him, finding her favorite chunky chocolate chip cookies.

"Well then you should have handed them to me first, Ron. Now I'll never get any." Hermione spoke up from her spot on the couch. She would have normally greeted her friends whenever they appeared but her pregnancy was keeping her strictly to her bed or sofa. The Healers didn't want to take the chance of Hermione overworking herself and causing stress for the babies.

"Hello to you, too." Harry laughed. "No need to get up, we'll come to you." He playfully sneered. Hermione rolled her eyes, counting down the seconds until-

"And how is Ron Jr. and Harry Jr. doing today?" Ron and Harry cooed at Hermione's stomach. Both the men never skipped a day where they didn't call the babies by their own name since Hermione and Fred were keeping their names a secret until they were born. Of course, they also hoped that if they said the names enough they would eventually stick after their birth.

"To what do we owe today's visit to?" Fred laughed as his brother and Harry each took a turn to touch Hermione's stomach. "You always come with the latest gossip. What's going on in the outside world?"

"Nothing much." Harry shrugged. He and Ron took a seat on the floor on either side of Jean. "Gin was going to the Burrow so I went to see what Ron was up to. He was on his way here so I tagged along."

"I see." Fred grinned. "So Ron, what's the latest piece of gossip then?"

Ron was thwarted from his attempt at stealing cookies by Jean smacking his hand so he turned his attention to his brother. "Did you know that George and his bird, what's her name, Melanie? Did you know they're getting serious?"

"NO!" Fred would've leapt up from his spot on the sofa except that Hermione was still leaning against him. "He hasn't told me anything!" He whined.

The fireplace chimed, green flames erupting before George stumbled out. "'Lo, family. How's it going?"

"Uncle George!" Jean shouted before anyone could get a word in. Jean sprinted at her third uncle, giving him a hug before running back to her spot on the floor and eating more cookies.

"Lo, mini Granger." George chuckled as he finally turned to his brothers, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law. "Why wasn't I informed about the family reunion?"

"Same reason why Hermione and I wasn't informed on this new bird of yours." Fred shot back with a quick grin so his twin knew he was joking.

"Melanie?" George furrowed his eyebrows. "I thought I told you about her?"

"Nope." Hermione grinned. "Now spill."

George had went on and filled in Fred and Hermione about Melanie Snow. He told them how she snuck up on him and he found himself truly falling for her and even made him think of settling down. They were all happy for him, glad that he had finally found someone to put up with him and his crazy antics. As the months slowly passed, Melanie became a permanent visitor to Hermione and Fred's home whenever she visited with George.

**OoOoOoOoOo**

**oOoOoOoOoO**

Hermione was currently alone in the flat, Fred being away at the joke shop with George. Her due date was coming up and her body was becoming more and more restless. The full moon was only three days away and she didn't know how she was going to go through with the upcoming transformation with such an enormous stomach. Her skin was practically crawling, her mind racing, and her energy level was sky high which made her anxious since she couldn't do nothing about it.

The fireplace chimed three times; Charlie and Bill walking gracefully out of the green flames while Tonks stumbled in behind them. She landed on the floor with an _oomph! _and smiled sheepishly up at Hermione.

"Wotcher, 'Mione." Tonks greeted. Charlie and Bill snorted in amusement at the still clumsy witch, each grabbing an arm and hauling her up to her feet.

Charlie ran The Flaming Phoenix for Hermione since she was once again pregnant with his nephews. He had asked Bill for help once Hermione came clean about her second pregnancy and Bill gladly accepted to relieve some stress from his sister-in-law. The two men had taken to flooing in upstairs to greet Hermione and then continue on their way downstairs to open up the bar. Since Hermione wasn't allowed to leave the flat, their daily pop in's were appreciated.

"Hello, Tonks." Hermione breathed out heavily. "Charlie. Bill." She nodded her head at them. "How's your day going?" She was seated on the couch, leaning forward with her elbows propped on her knees.

"Good." Bill answered for himself and Charlie. "Just thought we'd open the bar up early today. What about you?" He eyed her curiously. "You look highly uncomfortable."

Hermione smiled at him which turned into a grimace when a sharp pain shot through her back. "I'm fine. The two little ones are due in a couple of weeks and the full moon is days away." She sighed as she reached behind herself to rub her back. "My body is not behaving itself."

Tonks look worried, rushing up to sit beside her and placing a hand on her shoulder. Hermione growled lowly in the back of her throat, Charlie shifting to pulls Tonks away when Tonks stopped him. "Quit the growling, will ya? I'm a Mum myself and I'm not going to hurt you or the babies."

The growling instantly ceased, Hermione coughing to clear her throat. "Sorry about that."

"It's okay." Tonks assured her. "I get it. The need to protect your young by any means necessary runs strongly through your veins."

Charlie and Bill looked uncomfortable with the way the conversation turned into _mummy talk_ so they slowly started to back away. "Well if you're okay, 'Mione, we're just going to head on down." Charlie mumbled.

Hermione waved them away. "Yes, yes. Go on." With one last smile, Charlie and Bill were out the door.

Hermione let out a huge breath, her hands now rubbing her stomach up and down. "Are you sure you're okay?" Tonks asked again.

"Mhm. Yeah." Hermione breathed out heavily through her nose. "I'm just uncomfortable. I haven't been able to get comfortable since early this morning." Tonks reached around and added pressure the the small of Hermione's back. "Oohh." Hermione moaned. "That feels wonderful."

Tonks snorted and continued to add pressure to her back. "I know you're the smartest witch of your generation, 'Mione, but don't you think you might be in labor?"

"No, no." Hermione quickly denied. "I still got a few more weeks. The babies wouldn't be coming toda- _oohh. _This really hurts."

Tonks grinned. "Should I send for Fred now or after we have you situated at Mungos?"

"Mungos first, Fred later." Hermione gripped Tonks' hand as the witch helped her to her feet.

"What about Charlie and Bi-.."

"Tonks! Get my bags from the room and get me to Mungos." Hermione growled.

With a twitch of the lips, Tonks quickly hid her grin as she accio'd Hermione's bags from her room. Hermione gripped Tonks' forearm as the witch apparated them to the Maternity ward at St. Mungos and then Tonks was finally free to go retrieve Fred and the rest of the family.

After hours and hours of snarling, grunting, groaning, and growling; Hermione and Fred were the proud parents of two healthy identical twin boys. They had the exact hair coloring, a deep reddish brown, full lips that reminded Fred of their Mother, and a batch of freckles that ran over the bridge of their noses and onto their cheekbones.

After being cleaned up and fed so they were content, the rest of the Weasley and Potter clan were finally able to truly welcome _Lucas Arthur_ and _Jackson Lawrence_ into the world.

**The End.**


End file.
